SGKRP: The border police sector exposed an attempt to cover up unprofessional behavior in the case of Milo Petrać

The Council for Citizen Control of Police Work announced that, on their own initiative, they checked the actions of officers of the Border Police Sector, as well as officers of the Police Directorate after the incident at the Sukobin-Muričan border crossing, on the Montenegrin-Albanian border.

"The council, already at the first consideration of the case, assessed that the video showed obvious unprofessional treatment of Mil Petrać, a university professor from Tirana. Without waiting for the reaction of the democratic public, the Police Directorate should have independently recognized the incident, condemned it and apologized to the citizen and the public. ", the announcement states.

The Council assessed that the police officers acted unprofessionally in the specific situation.

"Regardless of the background of the incident and possible illegal traffic behavior of persons in private motor vehicles, which were pointed out by the Police Administration, does not justify the police officers to act inappropriately and unworthy of a Montenegrin police officer," it added.

The council publicly praised the approach of Milutin Vasiljević, acting assistant director for the Border Police Sector, because he signed as well as police officers lgor Kalezić and Darko Vasilijević who prepared information that unequivocally recognizes numerous failures in the actions of police officers.

"They recognized the lack of documentation and more specific allegations about the incident, which clearly indicates the existence of an intention to cover up an incident that would not have been known if a video had not appeared on social networks and in the media, which clearly indicates the arrogant and uncontrolled behavior of police officers." , according to the Council.

The Council says that they noticed that this event, in terms of numerous elements, is similar to the incident of February 17, 2018, when the officers of the Intervention Unit of the Police Station for Public Order and Peace CB Podgorica, in the city center, acted unprofessionally in front of the "Bajica" restaurant ".

"Had there not been a video, the compromised and unprofessional behavior would have remained unknown. After so many years, the poor quality of the police culture comes to the fore again. Inappropriate and illegal solidarity is still present. Not a single officer of the Border Police reported a colleague who behaved inappropriately towards the university on the critical day. to a professor from Tirana," they add.

"The Council assesses that the police officer whose behavior was documented in the video should have been temporarily removed from service because the available evidence points to a more serious breach of official duty. The Council has previously indicated several times that the activities undertaken by other competent authorities, such as the State Prosecutor's Office, do not connections, do not affect or challenge the need and obligation to implement and end disciplinary procedures within the Police Directorate and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP). The Council indicated to the Police Directorate and the MUP that it is necessary to increase the number of officers of the Border Police Sector who also speak the Albanian language because it would this would significantly improve the quality of communication and the application of police powers and would contribute to increasing citizens' trust and better police results. The Council recommended that the MUP install video surveillance in the interior of the building at the mentioned border crossing in order to record the complete actions of the police in critical situations, therefore also from the outside , in front of the facility and inside it, which will make control procedures more credible and help the Police Directorate in confirming the credible and professional behavior of its officers towards citizens. The Council decided to continue to monitor this case through its further program activities," the announcement concludes.