Why do Azeri law enforcement need 3,810 "public" assistants?

Azerbaijani law-enforcement have formed so called "public councils" to help the police maintain public order, according to data cited at the Azeri Interior Ministry meeting November 27. In particular,apparently, 3,810 people are currently serving as "public" assistants to Azeri law-enforcement.

Azerbaijan is one of those countries where presence of police is felt always and everywhere. They yell, they hit, they harass, so that we never forget - they rule the way they please, and there is nothing we can do about it. If your neighbor is a policeman, you probably avoid getting in trouble with him, and he looks down at everyone in the community. If you are a family member of a policeman, you probably look down at everyone and act like you are one of the police - harass people, yell at them, beat them. If you ever had to deal with a policeman, those were the most disgusting moments of your life: either feeling his club crashing on your spine or him sputtering on you like a mad camel.

Now why on top of these do we need these "public councils" and what exactly are they going to do? Whatever the reason for creating these councils, the whole idea just doesn't sound right.

Another post-soviet country - Uzbekistan - that our authorities, it seems, are trying to copy in their every awful idea, have something similar to such councils - mahallas. Unlike these soviet-sounding councils, mahallas for centuries were almost an independent institution that helped residents of the community solve problems, celebrated holidays together, etc.

But Islam Karimov's government found another use for the 12,000 existing mahallas in Uzbekistan. Now, according to Rachel Denber, Deputy Director Europe and Central Asia Divisionof the Human Rights Watch organization, "Mahallas are the eyes and ears of the government, passing on all they observe to the police".

A detailed Human Rights Watch report describes how in the hands of a dictator mahallas turned into an tool that helps prosecute Muslims and democrats, violate human rights, control, report on every activity against the government and torture. 

Is this something we are going towards? Why create these councils now? Getting ready for the 2013 elections? Or just way too afraid of your own shade? 

P.S. My 3-year-old overheard me discussing this theme at home and asked what was the matter. I answered that Azerbaijan is getting more people to help the police. "Is that bad?" - he, who dressed up as a policeman for Halloween, he, who thinks a policeman is a strong man with a smile, who helps catch criminals and is always there to help community, asked. He hasn't yet met his Azeri colleague - the one with a fat belly and short legs, loud voice and thick mustache, the one with a club in one hand and a loudspeaker in another, the one who thinks he owns us and can do whatever he pleases, the one everyone is afraid of and tries to avoid. And now in addition to him we are getting a council of "active citizens" dedicated to spy on us, report on us and control.