Urgent regulation of jobs incompatible with the police profession needed

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New amendments to the Law on the police do not define clearly which jobs are incompatible with the police profession or which could cause the conflict of interest, which may negatively reflect on citizens’ security. These are the conclusions of the presentation of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy’s (BCSP) study, held on December the 12th, in Media Center Belgrade.

The question of the occupations incompatible with the police profession is a question of conflict of interest, because of the importance, responsibility and authority of the police officers themselves, stated BCSP Legal researcher Sofija Mandic.

She also added that the poor financial situation is the main reason why Serbian policemen are in search for extra work, that 97 percent of the interviewed police officers feel that their wages are low, that only 3 percent of the police are completely satisfied with their job, and that more than a fifth of the respondents believes that their financial situation is unbearable.

The latest BCBP study results are “devastating,” and the deadline for adopting a by-law on incompatible professions expired in February, said Vice President of Police Union of Serbia, Vladimir Pavicevic.

The issue of jobs incompatible with the police profession must in some way be regulated. All the police in the world have a problem with this legal matter, said Executive Vice-President of the Police Association “Dr Rudolf Archibald Rice” Vladimir Dzigurski.

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Police officers are dissatisfied with the economic situation and often seek additional employment, but are even more dissatisfied with stress, poor working environment, the attitude of managers and citizens towards them, according to the Vice President of Serbian Police Union Mile Lazarevic.

Differences between the work of private security and the police create the incompatibility of these two activities, said Djordje Vucinic, Deputy Secretary of the Association of Private Security and Other Service Activities.

In the current market conditions, theAssociation of Private Security and Other Service Activities considers that in the majority of cases police officers should be allowed to work as private security, provided that this is done in accordance with the regulations, concluded Vucinic.

Research for the study “Jobs incompatible with the police profession” was done on a suitable and deliberate statistical sample, which is useful for pilot studies. The sample units were selected on the basis of membership in one of the four police unions, which were chosen for this research on the basis of the criteria of representativeness and number of members. The sample was chosen solely on the basis of how many respondents were available to participate in the survey. Two consultative meetings with police officers were realized, so the survey included members of the professional associations of police. The sample covered 796 subjects.

The study was made on request and for the needs of the Protector of Citizens within the project “Strengthening the capacity of the Protector of Citizens”, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Attitudes and opinions expressed in the study and at the event do not express the views of the Protector of Citizens nor of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The presentation of the research is organized by BCSP within the project “Western Balkans Pulse for Police Integrity and Trust“, supported by the European Union.  Attitudes and opinions expressed in the study and at the event do not reflect the views of the European Union.