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, whenever the number of police officers is mentioned in the media, the figure is always over 12 thousand officers, who should wear the uniform of a police officer to prevent crime and guarantee public order and safety. The new data that has come to light show that the crisis of the lack of police officers is being highlighted. Around 200 officers who work under the Police Law are absent, while the civilian staff of the State Police has an even greater shortage, this is admitted to "Sinjalizo" under the condition of anonymity, police officials. Meanwhile, a police officer signaled through the “Sinjalizo” platform , recalling that the difficulty is made worse by low salaries, non-payment of allowances, overtime, the stress of protests and the considerable workload. It is reported 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 from a rough estimate of the shortages 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 a protest, I had just graduated from the academy,” begins the story of a police officer in his 30s, who is appointed to the largest police force in the country, the capital. “ I was on the cordon, and at one point people started pushing us, with those metal fences that we put up, and to be honest, apart from holding the fence, which now seems ridiculous to me, I didn’t know what else to do,” he says. The moment when he experienced the effects of tear gas for the first time is also etched in the officer’s memory.
" We had masks, it's not that we didn't have any, but they were old, so they didn't filter properly. But what could I do, I gritted my teeth and stood by my colleagues," continues the officer with the rank of inspector.
But the problem of the Albanian police being poorly equipped has been an unresolved issue for years. On condition of anonymity, officers tell "Sinjalizo" that due to the poor quality, they are forced to buy police uniforms from their own pocket money, a phenomenon that has been repeated since the time when the police was led by Hysni Burgaj and continues to this day. " Radios without headphones continue to be one of our concerns," says another officer, regarding dissatisfaction and the "naked" police during protests. With outdated or ineffective masks, as well as tear gas that is thrown at the discretion of the police officers on the spot and not with coordination from their superiors, the police show that during protests they are not at all endangered by the protesters but by the measures that are taken within their framework and that often lead to long hours. "We leave the service where we are at the police station and, through the graphs made there and then by the bosses, we jump onto the Boulevard and stay motionless until the last one leaves. It's torturous, " says a patrol employee, who tells "Sinjalizo" that he has been in thousands of protests since 1990 and that " the situation is getting more and more difficult. I have another year and I'm retiring. I've been an inspector my whole 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.
" Over the last 5 years, Police employees have been paid for all additional hours for their engagement in supplementary Services, outside of mandatory service hours, not only for protests, but for all types of Services for which they are engaged", officially declares the General Directorate of the State Police. Meanwhile, in the second part of the response, it says that although 698 rallies/protests and demonstrations were held in 2020 and 8,750 employees were engaged, the police do not have data on additional service. " We do not have data on the hours of service performed by Police employees to ensure public order during rallies/protests and demonstrations held during 2020", the official response states, 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 rallies/protests and demonstrations held 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 designated for the leaders of the central structures of the State Police did not function throughout the protest," it is stated in part of this document, which, among other things, adds that the use of tear gas and tear gas 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 on the initiative of the police officers who use them. Thus highlighting the excessive use of tear gas.
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 gas masks of the police personnel of the Tirana Local Police Directorate, which according to him " does not fully perform their proper function due to wear and tear and long stay in the warehouse", while, among other things, he added that it is necessary for the State Police to have restrictive tools and equipment for blocking certain road segments, diverting 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 European Union standards," says the head of the Police Union, Sadedin Fishta, but when the lack of headphones for State Police employees is mentioned, he says that these are devices that they should have. "They are needed so that messages and orders cannot be heard, but also to command because they cannot command even from the noise of the demonstrators alone," he says.
Asked about the extra hours of Police employees at gatherings during 2020 and 2021 for which the State Police does not have data, Mr. Fishta states that he has no complaints. But he adds that recently there has been a delay in paying the extra 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 (Rush Intervention Forces) which have an 8-4 schedule and other structures of the police stations that are engaged in general Services and patrols," he says, adding that there have been cases where 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 should be given a break. They sometimes violate it because they do not give them holidays and the 16-hour limit is exceeded and they do not pay them. We have had a deadlock here because after all, the law allows payment for even more than 16 hours. This is a violation because it does not pay for work done and violates the rights of the employee", he concludes. But the employees also have doubts about the Union, which according to them on condition of anonymity, does not represent them and does not even raise issues to protect them.
