GEOGRAPHY

Serbia is a country situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe in southern
Pannonian plain and the central Balkans.

Its capital city is Belgrade

Populated by approximately 6.9 million people

FLAG

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The first institutions that were granted police-like powers, both administrative and
executive, emerged at the beginning of the nineteenth century. A modern system of
police organisation was developed largely during the Constitutionalist era (1838-1858),
when the first Ministry of Internal Affairs was established. The first professional titles for
police officers were adopted in 1872 and the first uniforms were adopted in 1885.

The territorial division of the police organisation came about during the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia. A “people’s militia” was set up at the second session of AVNOJ (the Anti-
Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia) and became part of the
Ministry of Interior after the war. The principle characteristic of the development of
police organisation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was its progressive
decentralisation, which peaked during the era of workers’ self-management. The service
was known as a ‘militia’ until the very end of the 20th century.

Today the Ministry of Interior employs more than 45,000 people, which is around a third
of those employed in category known as state administration, defence and compulsory
social security. This is also around 190 times the number employed by the police when it
was founded nearly two hundred years ago. The current crop of MoI employees is
dominated by those with only a secondary education (71.1%) and more than 70 percent
of employees have been in their jobs for more than ten years.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The police force is a body within the Ministry of Interior, which in effect places it within
the state administration. It is accountable to the Ministry as the hierarchically higher body
and also, ultimately, to the Serbian Government. This forms a direct line of responsibility
to the executive branch of government. In spite of its historical ties to the armed forces,
the current position of the police within the system of government clearly defines it as a
civilian authority. The police force is only one element of the Ministry and, as such,
carries out only a part of the functions that fall under the purview of internal affairs.

Figure 1: Organisational chart of the Ministry of Interior

The Ministry's General Police Directorate operates five separate departments, the:

 Department for Organization, Prevention and Community Policing,

 Department for Public Peace and Order and Other Police Affairs,
 Department for Special Actions, Intervention Police Formation, Defense Preparations
and Reserve Preparation,
 Department for Control of Legitimacy of Work, and
 Department for Staffing, Improvement and Police Equipping.
There are 161 local police stations across the country, 62 border patrol stations and 49
traffic police stations.[1] As of August 2016, the Serbian Police has a total of 28,266 of
uniformed officers, while a total of 42,817 are employees of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs.[2] Of those, 70.2% have secondary education, while 27.8% have higher or high
education.
Figure 2: Organizational structure of the General Police Directorate

In terms of the territorial division of the General Police Directorate, it is key to first
distinguish between those organisational units that established within the headquarters of
the Directorate and those that fall outside of its purview. In addition to those fourteen
organisational units within the General Police Directorate outlined above, there are also
the City of Belgrade Police Directorate and a number of smaller organisational units.

Regional Police Directorates are responsible for policing beyond the territorial scope of
the General Police Directorate, though in organisational terms they are still subordinate to
it. As there are 27 regional directorates (not counting Kosovo and Metohija) and the
territory they cover is large, there is a need for further delegation of police
responsibilities. This is why there are several police stations within each regional
directorate – one for each municipality. In certain cases, this principle of subordination
can be extended further by the establishment of a police sub-station as an extension of a
police station.

List 2: Regional police directorates in Serbia

1. City of Belgrade Police Directorate
2. Novi Sad Police Directorate
3. Kikinda Police Directorate
4. Pančevo Police Directorate
5. Sremska Mitrovica Police Directorate
6. Zrenjanin Police Directorate
7. Subotica Police Directorate
8. Sombor Police Directorate
9. Bor Police Directorate
10. Vranje Police Directorate
11. Valjevo Police Directorate
12. Zaječar Police Directorate
13. Jagodina Police Directorate
14. Kragujevac Police Directorate
15. Kruševac Police Directorate
16. Kraljevo Police Directorate
17. Leskovac Police Directorate
18. Novi Pazar Police Directorate
19. Niš Police Directorate
20. Požarevac Police Directorate
21. Pirot Police Directorate
22. Prijepolje Police Directorate
23. Prokuplje Police Directorate
24. Smederevo Police Directorate
25. Užice Police Directorate
26. Čačak Police Directorate
27. Šabac Police Directorate
Regional police directorates are commanded by police chiefs and police stations by
commanders.

Figure 3: Basic territorial organisational structure of the police and the respective
heads thereof
POWER AND FUNCTIONS

Police force is primarily defined as a state administration body within the Ministry of
Interior (MoI), which carries out certain administrative tasks and, in so doing, complies
with the standard principles regulated by the Law on State Administration, such as
autonomy, legality, professionalism, impartiality, political neutrality, effectiveness,
proportionality and transparency. However, certain aspects of policing are specialised to
a degree that separates them from other state authorities. These aspects of the police are
regulated by the Law on the Police adopted in 2005.

The police service is a significant instrument in the hands of the state authorities that can
serve a variety of functions:

 Policing – the protection of the rights and freedoms of all citizens,

 Ensuring and supporting the rule of law,
 Maintaining public security in accordance with the law.
In addition the usual provision of security, the police force is also tasked with
undertaking urgent measures to prevent direct threats to lives and property, participating
in rescue operations, providing first aid and also assisting other state bodies in carrying
out their functions in the event that there is an attempt to prevent or resist these functions.

List 1: Types of police work according to the Law on the Police (Article 10)
1. Protecting the life, rights, freedoms and integrity of citizens and upholding the rule of
law.
2. Protecting property.
3. Preventing, detecting and solving misdemeanours, felonies and other violations,
fighting organised crime and other crimes.
4. Finding and apprehending the perpetrators of criminal offences, as well as other
persons wanted by the authorities, and bringing them before the proper authorities.
5. Maintaining public order, assisting in emergencies and providing other forms of
protective assistance to those in need.
6. Regulating, monitoring and assisting road traffic.
7. Providing security for certain public gatherings, individuals, government bodies,
buildings and facilities.
8. Monitoring and guarding the national borders, controlling border crossings,
enforcing border regulations and resolving border incidents and other violations of
the national boundaries.
9. Performing activities defined by regulations on foreign nationals.
10. Performing other tasks as established by laws and by-laws deriving from the law.
POLICE POWER
An employee of the Ministry of Interior and a police officer are not one and the same.
According to the Law on the Police, are officials who exercise law-enforcement powers –
i.e. those employees of the Ministry who apply police powers.

These powers encompass certain tasks only permitted to police officers, provided
conditions for their implementation have been met. These conditions include legality,
respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the Police Ethics Code.
Furthermore, officers must adhere to the principle of proportionality when exercising of
these powers. Additional requirements include such due care as wearing a uniform in the
proscribed manner and identifying oneself as a law-enforcement official prior to
exercising police powers.

List 3: Police powers according to the Law on the Police (Article 30)
1. Warnings and orders.
2. Checking and establishing the identity of persons and objects.
3. Summons.
4. Transporting.
5. Detention and temporarily restricting freedom of movement.
6. Requesting information.
7. Temporary seizure of objects.
8. Search of premises and facilities, inspection of documents, and anti-terrorist search.
9. Stopping and searching persons, objects and vehicles.
10. Securing and searching crimes scenes.
11. Requisitioning vehicles and communications equipment.
12. Receiving reports of offences.
13. Issuing rewards.
14. Audio and video recording and photographing in public places.
15. Polygraph testing.
16. Police surveillance.
17. Searching for persons and objects.
18. Protection of victims and other persons.
19. Collecting, processing and using personal data.
20. Targeted search measures.
21. Use of enforcement measures.
Police officers can also be Ministry of Interior employees whose work is closely related
to police work. This group of activities includes fire-fighting, issuing firearms and some
other jobs pertaining to security or the functions of which are classified.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The law enforcement education in Serbia, is provided through the Basic Police Training
Centre and the Criminal and Police Academy's.Within the Training Centre there are local
educational centres in: Makiš, Belgrade, Kula, Klisa, Petrovo Selo, Jasenovo, Mitrovo
Polje and Kuršumlijska Banja.

PERSONNEL STRENGTH

In order to carry out all of the functions the police are responsible for, the MoI employs
more than 45 thousand personnel, of which more than 27 thousand are police officers in
uniform.

Table 1: Number of employees at the Serbian Ministry of Interior

RANK AND CLASSIFICATION

 General of the Police (General policije)

 Chief Police Adviser/Counselor (Glavni policijski savetnik)
 Police Adviser/Counselor (Policijski savetnik)
 Chief Police Inspector (Glavni policijski inspektor)
 Independent police inspector (Samostalni policijski inspektor)
 Police Inspector (Policijski inspektor)
 Police Sergeant (Policijski narednik)
 Junior Police Sergeant 1st Class (Mladji policijski narednik 1 klase)
 Junior Police Sergeant (Mladji policijski narednik)
 Independent Policeman (Samostalni policajac)
 Senior Policeman (Viši policajac)
 Policeman 1st Class (Policajac 1 klase)
 Policeman (Policajac)
 Junior Policeman 1st Class (Mladji policajac 1 klase)
 Junior Policeman (Mladji policajac)
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UNIFORM REGULATION
FIREARMS AND EQUIPMENT

M16A4
MP5

GLOCK 26 GEN 5 9MM

 Information and Communications Technologies Department

The Department is run by the Director Assistant Branislav Božić.

The Information and Communications Technologies Department contains the following

internal units:

1. Section for computer communications, network management and internet/ 064 8167
174:

- Departmental for computer communications, development and network maintenance/

064 8167 040;
- Departmental for internet technologies and network administration/ 064 8167 044;

2. Section for coordination and support e-government development, system and technical
support/ 064 8167 178:

- Departmental for coordination and e-government development system support/ tel. 064
8167 176;
- Departmental for technical support/ 064 8167 043
- Departmental for republic bodies notary support

3. Section for information systems/ 064 8167 137;

- Departmental for application support and WEB technologies/ 064 8167-051

- Departmental for software development/ 064 8167 164;

4. Section for information security 064/8167-142

Supporting the strategic development of IT System in the Ministry of Interior

Sector for analytics, telecommunications and information technology (SATIT) is
responsible for the organization, functioning, development, enhancement and exploitation
of ICT infrastructure, integrated automated unified information system of the Ministry
(UIS) and logistic support for operational activities in the field of application of
information and communication technologies (ICT).

The role of ICT, and therefore the Sector, is twofold: with the help of technology to
improve business processes in the Ministry of the Interior and the police as well as to
improve relations with citizens which is reflected in the enhancement of service
functions.
In this regard, the Sector directs its activities towards achieving the following objectives:
 Developed project, administrative and technical capacity of the ICT of the Ministry of
the Interior in accordance with the latest standards of practice in the public sector;
 Achieved technological, personnel and operating standards of developed European
police services;
 Developed applicative environment that enables efficient performance of tasks in the
competence of the Ministry, which ensures most advanced services for the citizens and
other state bodies, while respecting the highest ICT security standards;
 Ensured continuous operation and improvement of the systemic ICT base in the
Ministry in accordance with the standards and directions of technological
development;
 Developed communication infrastructure that provides flexibility, reliability and
availability of all services at any location and at any time in the territory of the
Republic of Serbia;
 Improved the existing level of information security in the Ministry through the
formation of organizational units and developed willingness to provide an adequate
response to cyber challenges;
 Provided support for integrated and functional processes to ensure reliable and timely
information, both within the Ministry and for the citizens and other social actors;
 Improved implementation of eGovernment mechanisms at the Ministry of the Interior
and the development of e-services by applying the principles of e-business;
 Established ICT support for the implementation of the EC recommendations in the
negotiation process between the Republic of Serbia and the EU.