When the Russian jury introduced two guilty verdicts, one on a count of simple assault and the other for contempt of court for violating a restraining order, members of the prosecution and the audience at the Plymouth District Court erupted into thunderous applause. Since early morning on July 13, 2000 the 7 Karelian police chiefs and 4 city mayors had followed the criminal process of a mock domestic violence case, from the moment of dispatch, to the crime scene investigation, arraignment and finally the court proceedings. Alexander Sherbakov, Mayor of Pryazha, declared triumphantly, "Clearly the best learning scenario that I have ever been a part of!"

Project Harmony's Karelian Municipal Policing Initiative (KMPI), a three-part, two-week training program, focused on municipal administration issues, particularly those of public safety, public funding of law enforcement and community policing. During the first leg of the program, Chief Tom Hanley of Middlebury, Vermont exposed the delegation to the structure of American law enforcement and his department's policies for recruitment and community policing. Betty Wheeler, Middlebury Town Manager, provided a detailed overview of town administration, citing public accountability and public participation in all law enforcement and town related issues. Ride-alongs, meetings with faculty and students at Middlebury College's summer Russian program and a session on the role of media and police highlighted Middlebury Police Department's collaborative relationship with various constituents in the community.

Meetings at the Attorney General's Office, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and the Vermont State Police highlighted a short visit to Vermont's capital, Montpelier.

During the second phase of the program in Laconia, New Hampshire, Chief Bill Baker and Judge Susan Carbon organized a program devoted to the rule of law in a criminal case, as well as hands on community policing. In addition to the domestic violence case described above, the delegation visited a senior citizen home, a local middle school and the Chamber of Commerce. During a breakfast meeting with the Laconia Downtown Association, the delegation participated in a discussion of the relationship between public safety and the economic health of the local businesses.

After Vermont and New Hampshire, the delegation traveled to South Portland, Maine to examine cutting-edge juvenile crime prevention programs. Detective Linda Barker facilitated a three-day program. Highlights of this portion of the program included personal testimony to the success of the Jump-Start, Mentoring and DARE programs. At a program called DAY-ONE, the delegation had a chance to meet to young, rehabilitated drug addicts and convicted criminals. With a skyrocketing juvenile drug and crime rate, the delegation expressed a serious interest in programs that prevent, intervene and rehabilitate youth offenders.

The Karelian Municipal Police Initiative provided an intensely hands-on, practical training environment for police chiefs and city administration officials to talk about and debate new ideas to improve the public safety services offered in their towns and villages. Karelia continues to be a leader in the trend towards regionalism in Russia. The representatives from the towns of Petrozavodsk, Segezha, Prionezhskii Region, Pryazha and Kondopoga are now better equipped to create an environment of public accountability, community policing and public safety in their towns and regions. In the words of Vasily Andreev, Police Chief from Segezha, "We need to make contact with our community. I like the American community policing programs and we have seen how they work. For my part, I will do my best to introduce those ideas in Segezha."