The number of local safety councils was decreased

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BCSP research which was presented on December 18 at the round table “Local safety in Serbia: obstacles and opportunities” shows that there is still a lack of understanding between the police and local governments on the work of the security councils.

BCSP researcher Sasa Djordjevic stressed the importance of security at the local level by the information that in the draft budget for 2015 for the Ministry of Interior is provided a total of 63.7 billion of which 34.9 billion for the functioning of police stations in Serbia. Therefore, it is quite possible that the work of local councils for security in the context of this new program budget gets completely new quality dimension if certain problems were solved.

Cooperation depends on personal relations of the officials

It is estimated that in Serbia 76 municipalities and cities have local safety council, which is 45% of the total number of municipalities. This number is lower than in 2007 when, according to police records, 90 of the 170 municipalities there were an advisory body for the promotion of security. BCSP research Sasa Djordjevic said that one of the reasons is that the police is “afraid” of decentralization of the police and local authorities are pleased with obtaining information on the state of security from the police. Also, the police and local governments often find that collaboration for better security depends on personal relations – relations between the mayor and the police chief, said Djordjevic. At the same time BCSP research showed that in municipalities which have security councils, cooperation with the police is better than in those that do not have them.

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The action plan will be presented in a month

A representative of the Ministry of Interior, Aleksandar Vasilijević recalled that the Government of Serbia in April 2013 adopted a strategy of police in community. However, action plan it is not yet adopted which is now in its final stages. Head of the organization, prevention and community policing, said he expects that the action plan is completed in a month and presented to the government. Vasilijević, as well as other participants, think that the work of local security councils should not be normative edited because the law has a place for the formation of local safety councils. “If local governments are required to form councils, it will look as if their autonomy is questioned,” said Vasilijević and added that “we need to build awareness that these forms of cooperation are essential.”

Experience of Novi Pazar and Paracin point to the importance of trust

The President of the Local safety council Novi Pazar Hajrudin Hajrović stressed the importance of establishing a relationship of trust and the need to work in the Council, with members who are appointed by political affiliation, and engage persons having expertise in security. BCSP research has shown that citizens of Novi Pazar generally feel safe – 44%, but compared to the survey in 2010 significantly increased the number of those who feel most insecure – from 18% to 37%. The citizens of Novi Pazar feel mostly unsafe because of crime (43%), poor infrastructure (24%) and drug abuse (16%). Dalibor Mitic, president of the Local safety council Paracin, which was established two weeks ago, pointed to the role of the Council in the coordination of cooperation between institutions in order to ensure greater security. “We have established the Council because security is an important issue where everyone can contribute. Local government should be involved in security issues,” said Mitic. The President of the Paracin’s Local Security Council also believes that the municipalities should not be bound by law to establish councils and says that in those bodies “people from political parties should not be hired because that cannot resolve specific issues.”

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Women are more afraid for safety

Talking about gender perspective of the local safety and different security needs of men and women, BCSP researcher Gorana Radovanovic said that when creating policies in the field of safety it should be taken into account the gender dimension that neither the police “on the ground” often recognize. Radovanovic indicated the different sources of insecurity for women and men in local communities and stated that the study showed that for the safety of women's biggest problem is domestic violence, while trafficking and prostitution is generally not prevalent in the municipalities. She said that the survey showed that men mostly are victims of physical violence while women are victims of physical and sexual violence, and added that the municipalities that participated in the study as a major problem highlighted the safety of youth. Youth are, as statistics show, executors, about 40% of all crimes. Also, young people make up 30% of victims of crime.