The lower house of the Russian parliament on Friday approved a police reform bill in its third reading.
It was passed by a 315-130 vote with no abstentions. All the votes in favor came from the ruling United Russia party.
President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday dismissed public doubts that the bill will have little effect on problems with law enforcement in Russia.
He said the new law "will in no way be a step back" from the effort to reform the country's law enforcement bodies, whose conduct has become a great concern after a number of high-profile police scandals.
One of the most outrageous incidents was the random shooting of several people in a supermarket by an off-duty police officer in April 2009.
In response to growing criticism, Medvedev in late 2009 ordered a large-scale reform of the police, including cuts in officer numbers and the increase of salaries.
MOSCOW, January 28 (RIA Novosti)
