Author: Denis Tahiri
The State Police organization includes 10500 officers in the crime investigation and prevention structures. The figure is made public to "Sinjalizo" by the General Directorate of the State Police. And while, every time the number of police officers is mentioned in the media, the figure is always over 12 officers, who had to wear the uniform of a police officer to prevent crime and to guarantee order and public safety. The new data that has come to light shows that the crisis of the lack of police officers is being accentuated. About 200 employees who work under the Police law are absent, while the civilian staff of the State Police has an even greater shortage, this is what police officials admit to "Sinjalizo" under the condition of anonymity. So, a police officer signaled through the platform of "Signal" remembering that the difficulty is made greater by the low wages, the non-receipt of diets, overtime, the stress of protests and the considerable workload. It is known that these factors have pushed at least 600 police officers to take off their police hats and leave their duties in recent months. A source from the General Directorate of the State Police told "Sinjalizo" that based on a rough estimate of the absences in civilian and uniformed staff, the number is approximately 2000 people.
At the same time, the data made available to "Sinjalizo" show that currently in the structure of the State Police, there are 1 Major Leader, 7 Senior Leaders, 52 First Leaders, 144 Leaders, 430 Chief Commissioner, 569 Commissioner, 1533 Deputy Commissioner and 7863 Inspectors. Even at this point, the slow progress in the career and the blocking of the competition, since the time of the former general director Gladis Nano, is added as a demotivating factor.
The police in front of the protests
"The first time I was called to participate in the protest, I was fresh out of the academy. this is how a policeman in his 30s, who is appointed to the largest police force in the country, that of the capital, begins the story. "I was on the cordon, and at one point people started to push with us, with those metal fences that we put up, and to tell you the truth, apart from holding the fence, which already seems funny to me, I didn't know what else I could do." he shows. The moment when he experienced the effects of tear gas for the first time is also etched in the soldier's memory.
"We had masks, not that we skied, but they were so old that they couldn't filter properly. What do you want to do, I wanted to, I gritted my teeth and stood up, arms to my colleagues". the officer with the rank of inspector follows.
But the problem of the poor equipment of the Albanian police is an unresolved issue for years. Under conditions of anonymity, the operatives tell "Sinjalizo" that due to the poor quality, they are forced to buy police uniforms out of their pocket money, this is also a repeated phenomenon from the time when the police was led by Hysni Burgaj and onwards. "Hands-free radios continue to be one of our concerns." says another officer, about the dissatisfaction and the "naked" police in the protests. With outdated or ineffective masks, as well as tear gas, which is thrown at the discretion of the police officers at the moment and not with the coordination of their superiors, the police show that during the protests they are not at all endangered by the protesters but by the measures that are taken within them and which often leads to long hours. "We leave the service where we are at the police station and through the graphics made on the spot by the bosses, we jump to the Boulevard and stay still until the last one leaves. It's excruciating" says a patrol employee, who tells "Signal" that he has been in thousands of protests since 1990 and that "the situation is getting worse. I've been retired for another year. I remained an inspector all my life", complains the veteran policeman.
The police do not know how many hours of service the officers have done in protests for 2020 and 2021
Officially contacted about this situation by "Sinjalizo", the State Police points out that all extra hours have been paid for every protest and rally held not only in Tirana but also in different cities.
"During the last 5 years, the Police employees have been paid all the extra hours for their engagement in supplementary Services, outside the mandatory service hours, not only for the protests, but for all kinds of Services for which they have been engaged" , declares officially the General Directorate of the State Police. Meanwhile, in the second part of the answer, it says that even though 2020 rallies/protests and demonstrations were held in 698 and 8 employees were engaged, the police have no data on the additional service. "We do not have data on the hours of service performed by Police employees for ensuring public order during the gatherings/protests and demonstrations held during 2020". it is stated in the official response, where for 2021 the police adds that it does not have information on the number of employees engaged nor on the hours of service performed for the gatherings/protests and demonstrations that took place during the year we have left behind.
But this is not the only problem that State Police officers face in cases of protests or gatherings. Old equipment, or the lack of equipment, is another problem that affects almost all police officers. In an alert received on the platform of "SIGNAL!" it was said that the lack of tools but also their age has often sent the policemen to the hospital together with the protesters. The alert was also accompanied by a document from the former head of the State Police, Gladis Nano, addressed to the Minister of the Interior, in which the problems encountered during a protest were presented.
"The radio communication system on the channel assigned to the leaders of the central structures of the State Police did not work during the entire development of the protest. it is stated in a part of this document, where, among other things, it is added that the use of visual aids and lachrymatory substances should be better planned and in any case their use should be done only by order and command from the leaders of the Services and not by the initiative of the employees of the police who use them. Thus highlighting the excessive use of lachrymatory substances.
Another issue that is emphasized in this document is the need for training of police personnel of public order structures in managing and dealing with mass gatherings and activities. The problem identified by the former head of the state police is the lack of headphones for police officers' radios during the protests.
On the other hand, the former number one of the blue uniforms has also raised concerns about the anti-gas filters of the police personnel of the Tirana Local Police Directorate, which according to him "It does not fully perform its proper function due to wear and tear and long stay in the warehouse." meanwhile, among other things, he added that it is necessary for the State Police to have tools and restrictive equipment to block certain road segments, divert traffic, etc.
Although the State Police was specifically asked about these issues, especially with regard to equipment which is the main link in the work of police officers, in its answer, the State Police says that during the last 5 years it has carried out procurements for the purchase of "Equipment for Special Forces", "Purchase of equipment for the Operational Mobile Forces", "Purchase of Equipment for the Order Police", "Purchase of Equipment for the Order Police", "Purchase of individual and collective equipment for protection and use of force", "Purchase of radio communication equipment", "Purchase of special materials and equipment for police use". Of all these tenders, the last one was held on January 27, 2021.
Union: Policemen do not complain to us
"The equipment is standardized, according to the standards of the European Union", says the head of the Police union, Sadedin Fishta, but when the lack of headphones of State Police employees is mentioned, he says that these are equipment that they should have . "They are needed in order not to listen to orders, orders, but also to command since they cannot command even just by the noise of the demonstrators". he says.
Asked about the additional hours of police officers at rallies during 2020 and 2021, for which the State Police has no data, Mr. Fishta says that he has no complaints. But he adds that recently there has been a delay in the payment of additional hours for 2022.Mainly, the Services that have three shifts solve it easily because they are given holidays, while the problem always remains with the FNSH (Rapid Intervention Forces) which have a schedule of 8 to 4 and the other structures of the police stations that are engaged with the Services and general patrols", he says, adding that there have been cases that many police station managers have not put in the extra hours and have not submitted them to the local directorate.
"The order is that no more than 16 hours should be paid and the rest given time off. They sometimes violate it by not giving them holidays and exceeding the 16-hour limit and not paying them. Here we have had a deadlock, since after all the law allows payment over 16 hours. This is a violation as it does not pay for a job done and violates the rights of the employee". he concludes. But the employees also have doubts about the Union, which according to them, under conditions of anonymity, does not represent them and does not even raise issues to protect them.
