Tip: A resident of Brđa should check the behavior of the policemen when assisting in the control of the restaurant

The Council for Civil Control of Police Work asked the Acting Director of the Police Administration, Zoran Brđanin, to check the actions of the police officers of the Security Center (CB) Podgorica on July 2, 2021, during the assistance provided in controlling the working hours of catering facilities.

"The Council for Citizen Control of Police Work, acting on its own initiative and the complaint of Mr. LH from Podgorica, asked to check whether the officers of CB Podgorica acted in accordance with their powers, actual capacities and expected standards. The Council is aware that citizens have also reported to the Police Directorate inappropriate behavior of a group of unknown persons towards members of the police, as well as "the moment when four citizens (in civilian clothes) lift a police officer (in official uniform) by the hands and feet and take him out of the crowd, i.e., distance him". The Council recommended to the Police Directorate, because this has not been done so far, to immediately contact all persons who are eyewitnesses to the event, regardless of whether they were passers-by or guests of catering facilities," the Council's announcement states.

The statement adds that as it was pointed out that several recordings appeared on social networks and in the media that partially shed light on the event, both in terms of the treatment of the police and the treatment of the police towards citizens, the Council inquired with the director of the Police Administration for a quick explanation as to whether the recordings were exempt from all possible locations and how useful they are both for elucidating events and for checking the behavior of police officers towards citizens.

"The Council requested that the reports submitted by the police officers, i.e., the competent elders, be submitted to it regarding the event itself, and especially on the use of means of coercion. The Council requested an inspection of the original documentation or a copy of it. The Council asked the acting director of the police to determine whether during an official intervention in front of a catering establishment or later overstepping of authority towards one of the citizens, as indicated by certain recordings, whether in the specific situation the elders failed to communicate and take responsibility and whether they notice that there may be a so-called blue wall of silence and inappropriate, illegal, solidarity. The Council demanded from the director of the Police Directorate, that, due to the interest and trust of the public, as the head of the Police Directorate, he answered the submitted list of questions, which includes, among other things, the interest in whether the injury to the police officer could have been prevented if all means had been applied in a proportionate manner of coercion and that the intervention was better prepared and that the support for the intervention reacted in time, whether the police officers were in danger at some point, whether all the means of coercion required by the given situation were applied and whether officers with experience intervened." it is written in the announcement of the Council.

The press release also states that the Council was interested in whether the Police Directorate adequately and timely announced itself in relation to the specific event and further interests of the public.

"Finally, the Council expects the Police Directorate to professionally and objectively communicate its view of the capacities and actions of the officers of the Communal Police of the Capital City of Podgorica," the announcement concludes.