Minister responds to proposal to form "Vojvodina police"

Minister responds to proposal to form "Vojvodina police"

Tanjug is reporting that Stefanovic "rejected it."

Vojvodina is Serbia's northern, autonomous province.

In his reaction, the minister added: "There will be the Serbian police, and the Serbian police will be in Vojvodina and in other parts of Serbia, the one police of this country."

LSV MP Dejan Capo said this desire of the party was not about "creating parallel forces - but only a separate organizational unit for Vojvodina," and stated that "the security in this part of Serbia, while the Vojvodina police existed, was at a high level."

The LSV proposal would have the headquarters of this unit in Novi Sad, with a secretary at its helm, appointed by the interior minister at the proposal of the provincial government.

"We'll achieve the Vojvodina police sooner or later," said Capo.

Opposition DS party MP Dragan Sutanovac said the proposed law was "a missed opportunity to reform the police."

He criticized it for allowing the police to continue issuing driver and vehicle registrations, "which could be lowered to the local level," and for containing "only declarative commitment to a model of community policing, while the role of the human resources sector is not clearly defined."

"It is unacceptable that graduates of the Police Academy are treated as graduates from other faculties, everyone who enrolls in this school and passes the triage should be given a full time job with the police. Why does this institution exist if we hire people from faculties that issue suspicious diplomas," remarked Sutanovac.

He believes that the proposed law does not adequately treat the sector of internal control, "which must be completely independent and free in its work, and above all financially independent."

Stefanovic, among other things, replied that the law clearly states that graduates of the Police Academy will be given preference. On the remark about providing the interior minister with the power to give consent for the use of special units, Stefanovic said this was about "the financial aspect."

"Any use of the Gendarmerie costs, and if there is uncontrolled use of these units we could find ourselves in a situation where we have no money," said Stefanovic.

The National Assembly deputies are debating draft legislation on the police, public order and peace, and public gatherings.