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Dmitry Medvedev pushed ahead on Feb. 18 with a showcase law enforcement reform bid, promising staff cuts and stiff punishments for police who break the law. MOSCOW, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pushed ahead onFeb. 18with a showcase law enforcement reform bid, promising staff cuts and stiff punishments for police who break the law.

He demanded a plan to clean up corruption and fix other problems plaguing Russia's massive police force

Medvedev has made slimming the ranks of the 1.4-million member Interior Ministry and transforming a widely distrusted police force a top priority, but faces formidable hurdles, including entrenched bureaucracy and limited resources.

A series of killings by police and other scandals has added to the sense of urgency.

"Violations of discipline must be fought -- and fought firmly," Medvedev told top Interior Ministry officials in televised comments.

Medvedev signed a decree issuing a series of orders, the Kremlin said, mostly calling for the government to draft specific police reform plans in the coming months.

The orders built on plans announced in December to reform the Interior Ministry and cut its numbers by one-fifth by Jan. 1, 2012.

The reform push will test the political mettle of Medvedev, -- widely seen as No. 2 to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- and the ability of Russia's ruling tandem to tackle the notorious bloated bureaucracy, seen as a brake on economic growth.

Previous attempts at reform have failed and Kremlin opponents say Medvedev has made little or no progress on his pledges to fight corruption and improve the rule of law since Putin steered him into the presidency in 2008.

Medvedev said he ordered the staff of the central Interior Ministry office cut in half, from nearly 20,000 to 10,000, Russian news agencies reported.

Medvedev said he gave Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev a month to deliver a detailed plan to improve the ministry.

It must include "a system of anti-corruption measures" and a new recruiting method that "takes into account moral, ethical and psychological qualities" of potential police, the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

In the past year, killings and fatal negligence blamed on law enforcement officers have further tarnished the reputation of a police force long seen by many Russian as riddled with corruption and a source of danger rather than protection.

Medvedev spoke a day before a verdict was expected in the trial of a former Moscow precinct chief accused of killing at least two people in a supermarket shooting spree last April.

He said police convicted of crimes should face stiffer punishment than civilians.

At the same time, Medvedev peppered his comments with promises of better pay and better conditions for the police, saying increasing wages and benefits was a priority.

He said police serving in the violence-plagued North Caucasus must be made safer from frequent attacks by insurgents, but did not say how that could be done.