Last year, 351 retired, and in 2022, 367 employees of the Police Administration took advantage of more favorable conditions for retirement.
This means that 718 officers, i.e. over 13 percent of the total number according to the valid Rulebook on internal systematization and organization of workplaces, left the Police Directorate in the past two years, based on Article 180 paragraph 1 of the Law on Internal Affairs.
"According to the current Rulebook in the Police Administration, 5.377 jobs for police officers have been systematized, and as of January 31, 2024, 3.866 officers have been hired," says the Police Administration's response to "Vijesta".
Those figures clearly show that at the moment the Police Directorate is missing almost a quarter of its officers, and by the end of this year and 2025, judging by the age structure, almost 1.000 more could leave the public service.
The troubling personnel situation was noted at the end of last year in the Government's document on the situation in the Ministry of the Interior, where it is stated that 75 percent of current employees are aged between 40 and 67, and that already 15 percent of them are over 50 years old, which is the lowest. limit for retirement under more favorable conditions.
That the police will remain without the police was clear as early as 2022, when in almost all organizational units, due to more favorable conditions for retirement, a significant drop in personnel was felt.
A new personnel strike followed at the beginning of 2024 - there are almost no departments where a significant number of officers are not missing, so it often happens that in some municipalities only one officer works during a shift, who performs all police work...
The worst in Podgorica
"Vijesti" interlocutors claim that the biggest personnel deficit is in the Security Department in Podgorica, where, according to "Vijesti" unofficial data, almost half of the police officers are missing.
"Vijesti" also asked the Police Administration for individual data on the missing number of officers per organizational unit, but this data was not provided.
"When it comes to staffing in the organizational unit of the Podgorica Security Department, the work processes take place smoothly with the efforts of the police officers, who are engaged in this organizational unit. The analysis of the situation determined that the largest number of officers is missing in the Police Security Department in the capital, with the fact that during January, trainees of the Police Academy were also hired, after they were handed the decisions", the response of the Police Administration states.
Amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, which was adopted in June 2021, prescribe more favorable conditions for retirement with the explanation that "due to security challenges, urgent staff rejuvenation is necessary."
In December 2022, the conditions were changed again, and the retirement age was reduced from 53 to 50, and an increase in the pension from 20 to 30 percent was also prescribed.
Legal changes and preferential conditions for retirement were obviously not accompanied by mechanisms on the basis of which the number of police officers who leave the service would be replaced.
XV generation pending
Although the Police Directorate currently lacks almost 1.500 officers, the XNUMXth generation of the Police Academy is still pending, and the UP announced that "the admission procedure is underway".
UP stated that on January 19, 2024, the participants of the XIV generation of the Police Academy were handed decisions on establishing employment as trainees, and they were engaged in the organizational units of the Police Administration in accordance with the assessment of the service.
"In addition, the Police Administration undertook activities related to the analysis of the needs of the service and initiatives to fill the missing staff as soon as possible, i.e. to fill vacant positions, in accordance with legal regulations that do not only apply to academics of the Police Academy, but also to citizens who meet the conditions published in public advertisements", states UP.
It burns on all sides
In addition to staffing, the Police Department also lacks police equipment, because for years the investment was almost minimal.
Police uniforms were last purchased in 2015, while some of the sets were purchased a few years ago.
The police use 139 looted patrol cars purchased in 2018, and the question is whether the tender for the procurement of vehicles for the needs of UP, the procedure of which is ongoing, will be completed soon and when UP will be able to borrow new cars.
The "marice" for apprehension were mostly bought 15 years ago, the weapons are over two decades old, except for the ones used by special units, the falli and protective equipment...
Brđanin is fired on Friday?
The police department will most likely be without director Zoran Brđanin from Friday because it is very certain that he will be dismissed at the government session, but it is not yet known whether there is an agreement between the Europe Now Movement and the Democrats who could take over the management of the public service in the acting state.
The Commission for Personnel and Administrative Affairs of the Government submitted a proposal for the dismissal of Brđanin, which was submitted by the Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Šaranović on December 26 last year, after the Parliamentary Committee for Security and Defense did not adopt two reports of the director of the UP on the results in the fight against organized crime. crime and corruption.
The current director of UP, after returning to the head of the police, promised that he would step down from the leadership position himself the moment PES and the Democrats agree on who will be his successor, but with the condition that he gets an appropriate position in the public sector system.
Otherwise, Brđanin announced even then that he would seek protection again in court, if he was "illegally dismissed" again.
The "Vijesti" source states that the Democrats are advocating that the acting assistant director of the Border Police Sector, Milutin Vasiljević, be given a temporary mandate.
Minister Danilo Saranović said earlier that names are not important, but that the head of the police must be "someone who is an expert and who will respond to the tasks".
At the end of January, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić declared that Brđanin has a full mandate.
"I think there is room for agreement and discussion with Brđanin, as well as civilized ways that are appropriate to democratic and European practice. Everything should be done in accordance with the laws of this country," said Spajić at the time.
Article 12 of the Law on Internal Affairs states, among other things, that the police is managed by a director who is responsible for his work to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Government of Montenegro.
The Law clearly states that the police are politically and ideologically neutral in their work, and that they are operationally independent from the MUP and other state administration bodies...
Assistants leaving?
In addition to the fact that the Police Directorate is threatened with acting status after the possible dismissal of Brđanin, from next week the public service will, apparently, be without three assistant directors, who for longer in acting status cover the Special Purpose Police Sector, the General Jurisdiction Police Sector and the Border Police Sector.
According to "Vijesti" data, Brđanin sent a letter to the relevant minister with a proposal to extend the acting mandate of the three current assistants Miloš Rakonjec, Dragan Gorović and Milutin Vasiljević.
Saranović allegedly did not respond to those proposals.
Competitions for assistant directors were published in October last year, but the procedure did not go beyond the Human Resources Administration...
In his letter to the minister, which he sent at the beginning of the week, Brđanin said that the acting situation does not contribute to the strengthening of the institution and that the priority is to end the competition.
Assistants Rakonjac and Gorović have been covering the sectors in an acting capacity since 2021, while Vasiljević's half-year mandate has been extended twice.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
