Law enforcement in Croatia

Law enforcement in Croatia is the responsibility of the Police (Croatian: Policija), which is a public service of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, carrying out certain tasks, the so-called, police activities, laid down by law.^[1]

The Police deals with the following affairs: protection of individual life, rights, security and integrity, protection of property, prevention and detection of criminal offences, misdemeanors, violations, search for perpetrators of criminal offences, misdemeanors, violations and their bringing before competent authorities, control and management of road traffic, conducting affairs with aliens, control and security of state border, and other affairs defined by law.^[2]

In the operative sense, police affairs are divided into affairs related to public peace and order, affairs related to security of public gatherings, affairs of the border police, affairs of safety of road traffic, affairs of counter-explosive protection, affairs of the criminal police, crime-technical affairs, crime-files affairs, administrative affairs, nationality-related affairs, status questions and asylum, affairs of protection and rescue, inspection affairs and technical affairs.^[2]

In recent years, the force has been undergoing a reform with assistance from international agencies, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe since OSCE Mission to Croatia began there on 18 April 1996, with Croatia being admitted to OSCE on March 24, 1992.^[3]

Police powers

Police officers' powers in order to maintain peace in Croatia, such as the power to stop and search, seize property and use force, are regulated.^[4] A police officer in Croatia may only stop and search a person if a court has issued a warrant and it is possible that this person has broken the law or is in possession of items or tools which are considered unlawful.

A police officer is only allowed to use firearms if there is an immediate threat to his own life or the lives of other people, to prevent a crime from being committed for which the minimum prison sentence is five years or more, or to prevent the escape of a prisoner caught committing an offence for which the prison sentence is a maximum of ten years.^[4]

Organization

The General Police Directorate (Croatian: Ravnateljstvo policije) is an administrative organization of the Ministry of the Interior constituted for conducting police affairs. The General Police Directorate is responsible for:^[1]

• screening and analysis of the state of security and developments leading to the emergence and development of crime;
• harmonization, guidance and supervision over the work of Police Directorates and Police Administrations;
• immediate participation in particular more complex operations of Police Directorates and Police Administrations;
• providing for the implementation of the international agreements on police cooperation and other international acts under the competence of the General Police Directorate;
• organizing and conducting of criminal forensics operations;
• setting the prerequisites for the efficient work of the Police Academy;
• adopting of standards for the equipment and technical means;
• setting the prerequisites for the police readiness to act in the state of emergency.

General Police Directorate is headed by General Police Director (Croatian: glavni ravnatelj policije).

There are the following organization forms within General Police Directorate:^[5][6]

• Police Directorate (Uprava policije)
• Criminal Police Directorate (Uprava kriminalističke policije)
• Border Police Directorate (Uprava za granicu)
• Command of Special Police (Zapovjedništvo specijalne policije)
• Operational Communication Centre (Operativno–komunikacijski centar policije)
• Forensic Centre (Centar za kriminalistička vještačenja)
• Police Academy (Policijska akademija)
• Special Security Affairs Directorate (Uprava za posebne poslove sigurnosti)

For immediate conducting of police affairs there are 20 Police Administrations (policijske uprave) divided into four categories, which cover the territory of the Republic of Croatia according to the organization of units of local self-government (counties or županije).

Ranks

Regular Police (Temeljna policija)

Probationer with Secondary School

Probationer with College

Police Officer

Senior Police Officer

Police Sergeant

Senior Police Sergeant

Police Inspector

Senior Police Inspector

Independent Police Inspector

Chief Police Inspector

Police Adviser

Chief Police Adviser

Deputy Police Director

Police Director

Policajac vježbenik SSS

Policajac vježbenik VŠS/VSS

Policajac

Viši policajac

Policijski narednik

Viši policijski narednik

Policijski inspektor

Viši policijski inspektor

Samostalni policijski inspektor

Glavni policijski inspektor

Policijski savjetnik

Glavni policijski savjetnik

Zamjenik ravnatelja policije

Ravnatelj policije

Intervention Police (Interventna policija)

Intervention Police members

Police officer in intervention group	Leader of intervention group	Commander of section in intervention Police	Commander of platoon in Intervention Police - Instructor	Assistant Commander of troop in Intervention Police	Commander of troop in Intervention Police	Deputy/Assistant Commander of Intervention Police unit	Commander of Intervention Police unit	Instructor in headquarters of Intervention Police	Assistant Commander of Intervention Police	Commander of Intervention Police
Policajac u interventnoj policiji	Vođa grupe u interventnoj policiji	Zapovjednik odjeljenja	Zapovjednik voda – instruktor	Pomoćnik zapovjednika satnije interventne policije	Zapovjednik satnije interventne policije	Zamjenik zapovjednika – pomoćnik zapovjednika	Zapovjednik jedinice interventne policije	Policijski službenik – instruktor	Pomoćnik zapovjednika interventne policije	Zapovjednik interventne policije

Special Police (Specijalna policija)

Special Police members

Police Officer - specialist	Leader of specialized group	Instructor - Commander of platoon in Special Police	Assistant Commander of Intervention Police unit	Commander of Special Police unit	Instructor in headquarters of Special Police	Assistant Commander of Special Police	Commander of Special Police
Policajac - specijalac	Vođa specijalističke grupe	Instruktor – zapovjednik voda u specijalnoj jedinici policije	Pomoćnik zapovjednika specijalne jedinice policije	Zapovjednik specijalne jedinice policije	Instruktor u zapovjedništvu specijalne policije	Pomoćnik zapovjednika specijalne policije	Zapovjednik specijalne policije

Weapons

• • MP5
  • UZI Uses Copy of the Mini-Uzi variant manufactured as Mini ERO ^[7]
  • G36C
  • CZ75
  • HS 2000
  • H&K UMP
  • H&K MP7
  • H&K 417

A

Equipment

Since 2013, there were special efforts by the Ministry of the Interior to equip the Croatian police with new vehicles and uniforms. Police cars consist mainly of Opel Astra 4-doors and, more prominently, Skoda Octavias.

• 
  Croatian Police car
• 
  A motor officer patrolling in Zagreb on a motorcycle
• 
  Water cannon model CVT-6000
• 
  Police van
• 
  Police boat Cantiere Navale Vittoria V-800HR

Helicopters

• 
  Agusta-Bell 212^[8]
• 
  Bell 206B-3 JetRanger III^[8]
• 
  Bell 206B JetRanger II^[8]

See also

• Croatian special police order of battle in 1991–95
• Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)
• USKOK

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Police of Croatia.

• Police / Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia