The State Police and the Guard of the Republic, where double employment is prohibited by law, declare that during the last five years they have not recorded any such, while the reality shows the opposite.
Author: Anisa Krraba, Donald Zaimi, Fjori Sinoruka
Physically strong, well trained, with weapons that they can carry with them at all times, with a salary that does not allow them to spend a lot and with an offer always at the door, the Albanian security forces are often double-employed. contrary to the law.
This phenomenon, which has been present for decades in institutions such as the State Police, has decreased over the years, but an investigation by the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism shows that it is still present, with a great potential to undermine integrity and the effectiveness of the security forces in the country.
The second most common jobs are as security guards in nightclubs or as bodyguards for businessmen and other important people. There are not a few cases when double employment is also done near criminal groups in the country, which require security and protection from rival groups.
The most preferred are security workers of special intervention units and commando forces, due to their high physical preparation and the fact that they are involved in state work only in cases of emergency.
Double employment is prohibited by law in the State Police and the Guard of the Republic, at a time when sources told the Center that about 20 percent of the employees of these institutions are double employed.
In the Albanian Armed Forces, where dual employment is allowed, in recent years there has been a tendency to abuse this phenomenon, when members of the Albanian army are believed to have been involved in criminal events as a result of the "second job".
In all cases, the double employment of the security forces is considered by experts as dangerous, as it pushes the security forces to get involved in criminal activities and leads to low performance of the institutions in securing the citizens.
But, despite the dangers that this phenomenon carries, the security institutions seem to have no concrete plan to stop it.
The investigation reveals that during the last five years, none of the security institutions in the country have identified double-duty officers, implying that the phenomenon is silently tolerated.
The fight against this phenomenon would require an increase in the salary level and the supporting infrastructure for this category.
The risk of criminalization
In the corners of the notices of the police stations in Tirana, there is clearly a 19-point order by the Minister of the Interior, updated in October last year, when the former general of the Albanian army, Sandër Lleshi, was elected Minister of the Interior.
The purpose of the order is to remind police officers of some of their functional duties.
"Identify the bodyguards serving in the premises (military, Guard, police officers, RENEA, FNSH, etc.), - it is emphasized, among other things, in its point 16.
The State Police officially does not allow the double employment of the officers who serve in it and the exception is made only in cases of teaching.
"Double employment for State Police employees is defined in standard procedures for double employment of State Police employees, which stipulate that: Police employees are allowed to double employment only in the field of teaching," this institution emphasizes to the Center.
Double employment is also categorically prohibited for employees of the Republic Guard, a special structure under the Ministry of the Interior whose mission is to preserve and protect high state dignitaries and their residences.
But, despite this, former heads of the State Police and current officers of this institution make it known that the phenomenon of double employment is still present and is silently tolerated by superiors due to low salaries.
Meanwhile, the State Police emphasized to the Center for Quality Journalism that, from "2014 to today, there has been no employee prosecuted for dual employment."
Likewise, the Guard of the Republic declares that, despite constantly organizing checks for legal violations, including double employment, "during the years 2014-2018, there were no cases identified by us for specific employees of the Guard of the Republic who are double employed."
On the other hand, the Albanian Armed Forces declare that the legislation, under which they operate, does not prohibit double employment, as long as the soldier answers to the institution inside or outside of working hours. The only limitation to this dual employment is not breaking the law for Conflict of Interest, a law with a wide field of action and general settings.
The Albanian army does not explain whether there is an internal regulation, which sets out the limitations for the second job, but it is emphasized that, "for the period January 2014-October 2018, there were no proceedings against officers for violating the legal framework for double employment".
Despite this, on October 4th of last year, the engineer of the Armed Forces Commando special forces, Mevjol Billo, executed one person and injured two others in a bar in the former Blloku area of Tirana.
According to local media, Billo was involved in the incident because of his work as a bodyguard for the singer Elvana Gjata and her partner, Ervin Mata.
Nikollë Ndoci, a former senior leader of the State Police, with 20 years of experience in the institution and another five as part of the Republican Guard, emphasizes that in a country with high crime rates like Albania, the offer to have second jobs often "places these officers in the position of collaborators in crime."
" Their service, their presence, and the benefit of payment from individuals in the world of crime and conflict make these officers just as incriminated as their "bosses" who pay them," he emphasized.
Criminalistics expert, professor Luan Veliqoti, emphasizes the same idea, considering the second job often as getting into a vicious circle that criminalizes the security forces.
"The employer may be a person with a criminal record and may ask for favors from the employee, and the latter is forced to fulfill them in order to keep the job," he said.
According to Veliqoti, another negative effect that comes from the second job is the loss of interest in basic work in the service of citizens' security.
"It also brings another negative effect on performance. A second job affects the performance of employees, therefore it is prohibited by law in the case of security officers", he emphasizes.
Nikollë Ndoci, who is also a representative of the Association of Police Employees on Leave , also emphasizes that dual employment makes these officers almost incapable of performing the service for which they are paid by the state.
Low wages favor double employment
According to the 2017 government decision , the basic gross salary of a military officer starts from 33,600 Lekë and goes up to 49,650 Lekë. Regardless of rank, even in cases where the military officer has over 10 years of service, the salary does not exceed the limit of 59,800 Lekë. The allowances for work difficulties are also of a low limit.
The security experts unanimously answer that one of the reasons that pushes the effectives of the Security institutions towards double employment is the low wages for a difficult job.
The State Police has a gross salary level that starts at 50,000 Lekë for inspectors and peaks at 125,000 Lekë for senior managers. The salary increment reaches the highest level for the heads of special departments such as RENEA of 40,000 Lekë and an average of around 12,000 Lekë for other special functions.
The personnel of the special unit of the Republic Guard have a gross salary level that starts from 40,500 Lekë and goes up to 115,000 for major leaders. The allowances for ranks have an average of 17,500 Lekë.
"Our salary is somewhere around 54,000 thousand net lek, insufficient to cover all the expenses to live a normal life, apart from the long hours and the danger that this job has", - emphasizes the Police officer in Tirana.
According to him, the situation becomes more difficult, when the members of the security forces have to pay rent.
Criminology expert, Professor Luan Veliqoti, emphasizes for the Center that Albania is one of the few countries in the world where the low salaries of security workers are not compensated with other Services to assist this category.
"What they do is dangerous work and everywhere in the world the payments are decent and in addition to them the security workers get other bonuses.
In Turkey, for example, where police salaries are lower than in Western countries, the state provides this category with free hospital Services, vacations, houses, etc., he emphasized.
Currently, the Police forces in the country are not even paid for additional hours of service, a problem which has been present in the State Police for years. An order from February, issued by the General Director of Police, Ardi Veliu, states that, as a result of the insufficient budget, the additional hours of police officers during 2018 will not be paid, but will only be rewarded with days off .
With the continuous party protests in the country, the local elections and the flow created by the summer season, this decision is expected to discourage the security forces in the country even more.
However, Nikollë Ndoci, representative of the Association of Police Employees on Release , emphasizes that the dual employment of security forces cannot be justified under any circumstances, due to the numerous risks it carries.
According to Ndoc, the real reason why this phenomenon continues is the fact that there has never been a serious fight against it.
"They use physical strength, the power of the weapon they carry with a permit, the state function they serve and the fact that no one has prevented or is preventing them from working twice," he emphasized.
According to him, the phenomenon of double employment in the security structures has been and continues to be carried out with the full knowledge of the superiors, except for some sporadic cases.
*In the photo at the beginning of the article, police officers of the Shqiponja forces
