Depoliticize the police and build the integrity of policemen in order to make the fight against the corruption more effective

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Only two percent of citizens believe that the police speaks openly about corruption in their lines of work, and therefore, it is not surprising that, in fact, 70 percent of them would not be willing to report cases of corruption of the police force, said BCSP Director Sonja Stojanović Gajić. As she has noted, the studies show that citizens believe that there even exists a connection between the police and drug dealers, and that policemen themselves are often the actors of racketeering.

“According to our research, as much as 77 percent of police officers believe that politicians always hinder the work of police officers. Both citizens and police believe that police superiors don’t take actions in order to prevent and sanction the act of corruption, which leads to the fact that as many as 75 percent of police officers would never report a corrupt colleague, and the rest would do so only if they would not bear disciplinary responsibility”, said the BCSP Director.

Sonja Stojanović Gajić listed depoliticization of the whole management of the Ministry of Interior, non-interference of politics during the investigations, establishment of an effective system for preventing and combating corruption in the police; primarily through strengthening the internal control as well as strengthening cooperation and instruments of external control- as necessary measures for prevention of corruption in the police force.

The Head of Office of the Council of Europe Antje Rothemund pointed out, as a prerequisite for the eradication of corruption, that it is of great importance that the sectors in which corruption can appear operate on a strong ethical basis. She then added that the decrease of corruption in the police is a prerequisite of progress in many areas of society. This requires a series of measures throughout the administration. She emphasized the enforcement of preventive measures as the most important matter.

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The State Secretary of Ministry of Interior, Milosav Miličković pointed out that the fact that Serbia has been listed for many years as one of the countries with severe corruption problem which causes great concern. He stressed the human resources management and public procurement as the weak points for integrity of the police.

“We need more transparency in managing human resources. Vague job descriptions create ambiguity when it comes to responsibilities. The problem also lies in the inconsistency of internal regulations and procedures. Management decisions should be made based on procedures, not personal assessments. Moreover, straightening public awareness on corruption and willingness of the state to prevent it are two essential things when it comes to fighting against the corruption”, said Miličković.

The head of EU Delegation to Serbia, Michael Davenport, emphasized that the issue of corruption represents one of the most important topics for further reforms which Serbia needs to implement during the process of negotiations with the EU. As stated, progress in these areas are important in the early stages of negotiations with the European Union, especially given the fact that chapters 23 and 24, which need to be opened first, are in regards to this issue.

The president of the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs of the Serbian National Assembly, Marija Obradović, pointed out that the police force does not represent a set of political relations, but an instrument that contributes to the welfare of society and the safety of all citizens. Therefore, she said, in order to effectively combat corruption, we need the change of awareness of all citizens, not only the ones at the top of the pyramid.

Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Tatjana Babić, stated that besides poverty and unemployment, Serbian citizens see corruption as one of the biggest problems in the country. According to her, endemic corruption represents a big problem that needs to be eradicated along with petty corruption. She pointed out independent oversight of decision-making, transparency, and accountability of individuals as key measures when it comes to combating corruption.{split}

{image3}Professionalism and prevention will remove the causes of corruption

“Integrity is important, and managers must be aware of its importance. It should be clearly defined who can be admitted to the police. The police integrity and leadership by example are the most important elements of police professionalism. In addition to strengthening the integrity, it should be noted the importance of implementing preventive measures in the fight against corruption. Repression is the short term solution, it cures the symptoms. Prevention deals with the causes, and it should be a priority”, said expert of Council of Europe Robert Sumi while presenting the report created under the project “Strengthening the capacity of the law enforcement and judiciary in the fight against corruption in Serbia”.

Head of Internal Affairs Sector Milos Oparnica said that the recommendations of the Council of Europe are already in stage of activities and he stressed that strengthening the integrity of police officers and preventive action should be an important element in the fight against corruption. Oparnica pointed out an insufficient number of people employed in the sector, and the lack of adequate equipment for the work that is necessary for resolving corruption issue in a timely manner. He also pointed out that the cooperation between Internal Affairs Sector and Prosecution is good, but that it should be improved so that there would be a specialized prosecutor for the fight against corruption.

The challenge of the Internal Audit Sector of the Ministry of Interior in the controlling police corruption is the lack of procedures in relation to which they can assess, said Head of the Sector Vesna Nesic. She added that the Internal Audit Sector submitted all audits of internal control in order to deepen the evidence, pointing out that networking is one of controller medications for corruption. As one of the risks of corruption in the police, she pointed out procurements, which are often not in line with the procurement plans.

BCSP researcher Sasa Djordjevic pointed out two problems that undermine the integrity of the police.

{image4} “The first one is leak of information from the police, and the other is the question of what a police officer cannot do after office hours. These problems occur because lack of adequately based human resources management system, internal control police still is not strong enough, and there is a politicization of the police. If these problems were solved, and if citizens and police officers began to believe in their institutions especially in the police, we could reach a higher percentage of reports of corruption, not only in the police but also in other institutions”, said Djordjevic.

The head of the Bureau of Strategic Planning in the Ministry of Interior Drazen Maravic considers that it is not possible to talk about building integrity if the first we do not have the basic models of policing. As noted, the absence of standards of policing creates a milieu in which a police officer can choose whether to pay the ticket in transportation or do extra work. He said that the personal example is significant because the behavior of police officers depends on the personal integrity of the superior.

Marijana Obradovic from the Anti-Corruption Agency said that the work on strengthening the integrity and ethics is the weakest link in the fight against corruption. She said that good governance processes, or narrowing of the monopoly of decision-making reduces the risk of corruption.

Reports of corruption in the police are not responded adequately{image5}

“Civil society organizations outside Belgrade do not have the capacity to fight corruption in the police. To fight against corruption is necessary continuity, and this requires financial stability and independence, which is very difficult to achieve. People in small towns feel helpless, frustrated and frightened when they see corruption”, said Milan Stefanovic from organization PROTECTA from Niš.

BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic said that strengthening the integrity of the police and increasing security of the citizens is the common interest of civil society organizations and police unions. Dejan Skoric from the Resource Center from Majdanpek pointed to the existence of a “blue wall of silence”, which is a major problem for the detection of corruption and which limits the research work of civil society organizations. According to Zoran Basic from the Society against corruption in Zrenjanin, police officers are not allowed to report corrupt colleague because “everyone keeps everyone in hands”. As one of the problems in policing, Basic emphasized the fact that it does not control the essence of police work, but only the form, which means that the only thing which is important is whether they send the report or not. Panelists at the conference presented the cases of corruption and violations of the law by the police in Zrenjanin, Nis and Majdanpek. These case studies have been published in the BCSP publication.

Nikša Nikodinović from Police Union of Serbia pointed out that unions report cases of corruption which they hear about, and also react with press releases and press conferences. He said that it is frequent anonymous reporting of corruption in the police and that most of it is related to traffic and border police. Sasa Simic from the Union of Serbian police said that corruption in the police is humiliation for the profession and society and that bad legislation led to the individuals in the Ministry of Interior seized too much power and influence. As one of the mechanisms to be implemented in order to effectively combat corruption Milan Markovic from the Independent Police Union pointed out the introduction of the system of control and accountability of police.