|
|
|
|
|
||
|
||
| News | Business | Feature | Opinion | Sports |
Tourist Info |
Classifieds |
Wednesday, February 2, 2000
But authorities seek international help to raise standards By Magnus Bennett At a press conference on Jan. 20, Kolar revealed that Czech police handled just over 426,600 crimes across the nation in 1999 -- 1,700 more than the previous year. That compared with an increase of 22,000 reported in 1998. The national police force could also boast a slight rise in the rate of crimes solved, from 43.5 percent in 1998 to 45.3 percent in 1999. But the good news was put into perspective by a press conference 24 hours earlier, when a European Commission-backed project designed to radically overhaul the organization and management structure of the Czech Police was unveiled. The European Commission is spending almost 30 million Kc ($860,000) providing nine special advisers from police forces in the U.K. and Germany over the next 18 months. The cash is being channeled through the commission's Phare program, which helps candidate countries prepare for entry into the European Union. Under the scheme, called "twinning," the experts will help modernize career structures and training in the national police force, as well as strengthen special units fighting organized and serious economic crime, and introduce a new system of applicant selection and promotion. Paul Sholz, a pre-accession adviser with the European Commission who has been working with the Czech Interior Ministry on the project, summed up the rationale behind it. "At the center of our project is the creation of the preconditions for efficient policing with good, motivated police officers," he said. The foreign advisers are likely to have their work cut out for them. Last October, the European Union identified a number of areas of concern in its annual report on the Czech Republic's progress toward EU accession. It reported that police departments suffered from "poor working conditions, equipment and accommodation" and added: "There is also a serious lack of cooperation and coordination between police departments in key areas." While no one at the Interior Ministry has acknowledged the criticisms, officials value the twinning program in transforming the police service. "Without the Phare program, I don't think we would be able to make the necessary changes in the police force quickly enough," Jiri Kadlec of the ministry's human resources and education section said. Once the project is completed, a draft bill redefining professional and performance standards within the Czech police forces will be put before Parliament. The Interior Ministry expects changes -- which would also affect local police forces -- to be put into effect by 2003. Meanwhile, the issue of police corruption will soon enter the public arena with the publication of research conducted by Charles University's sociology department. Lecturer Pavol Fric, who last year published a study on economic corruption in the country, is compiling a report on police attitudes toward corruption within the service based on a questionnaire put to 500 officers. His findings will be revealed next month. Magnus Bennett's email address is mbennett@praguepost.cz .
|
Back to Top
Home