Police (Kosovo)
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| State level | Republic of Kosovo | ||
| Position of the authority | Civilian police with general duties | ||
| legal form | Public corporation | ||
| Supervisory authority (s) | Home Office | ||
| Consist | since September 6, 1999 | ||
| Arose from | OSCE Police School and UNMIK Police | ||
| Headquarters | Pristina | ||
| Coordinates | 42 ° 39 '14.5 " N , 21 ° 9' 3.1" E | ||
| Director General of Public Security - Chief of Police | Rashit Qalaj | ||
| Employee | 9,000 | ||
| Website | www.kosovopolice.com | ||
The Police of Kosovo ( Albanian Policia e Kosovës , Serbian Полиција Косова Policija Kosova , English Kosovo Police ) was founded in 1999 as a result of the Kosovo War and the subsequent withdrawal of the Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo and has been the Police of the Republic of Kosovo ever since .
The formation of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) comprised a large international police component, namely the UNMIK Police . The UN Resolution 1244 made two primary tasks of the UNMIK police recognizable:
- Establishment of a new police enforcement service
- In the meantime, maintain law and order
The name of the prison authority's Kosovo Police Service comes from the first international police commissioner, Sven Frederiksen from Denmark. The recruitment and training of the cadets began immediately after the premises of former police schools in the city of Vushtrria were renovated by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
When Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, the police became an agency of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. Before she was subordinate to the UNMIK police and the police commissioner retained the authority over both the international and the police of Kosovo.
The police in Kosovo has grown steadily since 1999 and in 2004 reached its planned strength of almost 7,000 police officers. In 2010 there were around 9,000 employees. About 85% of Kosovar police officers are Albanians, 15% are Serbs or belong to another ethnic minority.
organization
The Kosovo police is divided into six departments.
- Operations department
- Investigation Department
- Border department
- Support service department
- HR department
The most important departments of the Kosovar police are the border department and the operations department. The border department is responsible for protecting the borders so that there is no illegal border crossing. Most of the police officers work in the operations department, as it is responsible for the security of the Kosovar population. These include the patrol officers, who are responsible for road safety, and the various special units. The police also have specialized investigative units in all six regions - for example, units for organized crime or for tracing and forensic science. In addition to the specialized units on the investigative side of the law enforcement service, each region has a Regional Operational Support Unit (ROSU).
The Kosovo Police also work together with other institutions, such as the Kosovo Security Forces .
Special forces
Close Protection Unit
The Close Protection Unit of the Kosovo Police was established on January 21, 2002. The main task consists of providing personal protection for VIPs. She thus serves as a bodyguard for her own political leadership as well as foreign visiting state representatives. The CPU also ensures personal protection for people at risk.
The Close Protection Unit also conducts tactical operations, escorting delegations and evacuating both international staff officers and Kosovo police officers.
Special Intervention Unit
This special unit of the police of Kosovo was created in 2003. At the beginning it was a SWAT- like unit (2 teams of 15 police officers each) that were trained by two American service providers.
In March 2005 the project Special Intervention Group - SIG (Albanian Grupi Special i Intervenimit GSI , Serbian Specijalna Interventna Grupa SIG ) was started as the elite force for the fight against terrorism and hostage liberation . A rigorous selection process was followed by a number of tough tests and only 18 candidates were selected from hundreds of willing volunteer officers to form the first generation of this unit. The majority of the candidates are former members of the UÇK . The unit was formed by a team and specialists from the Kosovar government.
This experienced team of instructors was first led by the French instructor from "GIPN". The Egyptian instructor later took on this role, during which he also became the first commander of the GSI. At the end of 2006, due to certain difficulties, the project was converted into a standard "SWAT" -like police unit under the name FIT (First Intervention Unit) and trained by an American SWAT member and three French instructors.
The unit was recently raised to the level of operations of the former SIG and renamed the Special Intervention Unit (SIU). In addition to the fight against terrorism and hostage rescue, the unit is responsible for standard tasks such as high-risk arrests and combating gangs in the Republic of Kosovo. This unit is known to the population as NJSI (Albanian Njesia Speciale Intervenuse) . Among them there is also an NJRSH (alb. Njesia e Reagimit te Shpejt, German unit for quick reaction), which are ready for immediate use.
Regional Operational Support Unit
This special unit specializes in forced entry. They are also used on the front lines during rioting or civil disturbance to control crowds. Most of the time, this special unit cooperates with the special unit NJSI, as the ROSU is also trained in anti-terrorism and risky arrests. In the Albanian media, the ROSU is also referred to as NJSO (Albanian Njesia Speciale Operative, English Special Operation Unit).
Border police
The border police are part of the border department and monitor the border crossing during border controls on a daily basis. The so-called green border is also checked so that there is no illegal border crossing. The Border Police are out and about in the mountains with quarts and secure the borders of Kosovo in cooperation with the other police units.
Bomb disposal squad
The Kosovo Police Bomb Control Unit was established in March 2006 and currently consists of thirteen police officers. This decision was spurred on by the need to protect civilians and their property and to assist in investigating criminal cases. The defuse squad reports to the headquarters of the Kosovo police and is responsible for operations in all six regions of Kosovo. The defusers work closely with the investigative authorities and the public prosecutor's office in the course of investigations into explosions, after bomb threats and during the arrest of persons in illegal possession of explosives.
Current skills:
- Reaction in case of bomb threats
- Elimination and neutralization of all bombs
- Investigation of bombed locations and support in the reconstruction of the explosives used and preservation of evidence and preserving evidences
- Expert activities for the court
- Conducting searches in high risk facilities
- Providing technical support for special operations
Dog relay K-9
The dog relay was founded in November 2002. The first generation comprised seven service dog handlers . These police officers had completed basic training in the UK and were taking further training with international teachers. In 2000, the dog squad began using five police service dogs and five drug detection dogs .
K-9 is currently conducting various police operations with seven police service dogs, three drug detection dogs and one explosives detection dog . The dog squadron has three local trainers and organizes training for young police officers envisaged as members of K-9.
Motorcycle relay
The first generation of the motorcycle relay was founded on August 29, 2003. As a result, seven police officers were trained by international trainers. The second generation of 5 police officers was trained in the second half of 2003 and the third generation with 9 police officers in 2004. In 2005, twelve police officers were trained again in the fourth generation. The motorcycle squadron currently consists of 32 police officers.
The main task of the motorcycle squadron consists of escorting VIPs.
equipment
weapons
Pistols, submachine guns and shotguns
| weapon | origin | Type | caliber | Users |
| Glock 17 |
 Austria
|
Self-loading pistol | 9x19mm Parabellum | Standard gun |
| HK UMP |
 Germany
|
Submachine gun | 9x19mm Parabellum | Border Guard, SIU |
| HK MP5 |
Germany
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Submachine gun | 9x19mm Parabellum | CPU, ROSU, SIU |
| Mossberg 590 |
 United States
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Forearm repeater | Caliber 12/76 | SIU |
| Benelli M4 Super 90 |
 Italy
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Forearm repeater | Caliber 12/76 | SIU |
Assault rifles, carbines and sniper rifles
| weapon | origin | Type | caliber | Users |
| AK-47 / AKS-47 |
 Albania / Soviet Union
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Assault rifle | 7.62x39mm | Border Guard, SIU |
| AKM / AKMS |
Albania / Soviet Union
|
Assault rifle | 7.62x39mm | Border Guard, SIU |
| Type 56 / ASH-82 |
Albania / People's Republic of China
|
Assault rifle | 7.62x39mm | Border Guard, SIU |
| Zastava M70 |
.svg){kind=small} Yugoslavia
|
Assault rifle | 7.62x39mm | Border Guard, SIU |
| AK SOPMOD |
 Kosovo
|
Assault rifle | 7.62x39mm | ROSU, SIU |
| HK G36C |
Germany
|
Assault rifle | 5.56x45mm NATO | SIU |
| HK 416 |
Germany
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Rapid fire carbine | 5.56x45mm NATO | SIU |
| APR 308 |
 Switzerland
|
Sniper rifle | 7.62x51mm NATO | SIU |
vehicles
Spartan LAV vehicles on the Ford 550 series chassis.
| vehicle | origin | Type | version | number |
| Spartan Riot |
 Canada
|
Armored car | Ford F550 | - |
| IVECO |
Italy
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Van | Counterinsurgency vehicle | 2 |
The following vehicles are used for personal protection:
| vehicle | origin | Type | Use |
| Chevrolet Suburban |
United States
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SUV | President's vehicle |
| Audi A8 |
Germany
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limousine | President's vehicle, escort |
| Toyota Land Cruiser |
United States
|
SUV | Vehicle of the President of Parliament, escort, vehicle for state visits |
| BMW X5 (E70) |
Germany
|
SUV | Prime Minister's vehicle |
| Mercedes-Benz E-Class |
Germany
|
limousine | Prime Minister's vehicle |
| Volkswagen Touareg |
Germany
|
SUV | Escort, vehicle for state visits |
| Mercedes-Benz W221 |
Germany
|
limousine | State visit vehicle |
| BMW 7 series |
Germany
|
limousine | State visit vehicle |
| BMW R900RT |
Germany
|
motorcycle | Motorcycle escort |
uniform
| unit | equipment | dress |
| SIU | Black tactical vests, storm masks | Black overalls, flecktarn / snow overalls |
| CPU | - | Suit / blue overalls |
| Border police | Black tactical vests | Blue overalls, dark blue beret |
| Crowd & Riot Control | Protective shields / helmets. Body protectors, batons, irritants, rubber bullets | Blue overalls |
| Bomb Squad | - | Bomb Suit 9 |
Used during the March riots in 2004
During the nationwide pogrom-like mass riots by Kosovar Albanians against the ethnic minorities, especially the Serbs, from March 17 to 19, 2004 in Kosovo , the security forces, i.e. the NATO- led KFOR , the UN ( UNMIK ) police and Kosovo , exercised Police Service (KPS), almost no control over what happened. In July 2004 the human rights organization Human Rights Watch accused the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), as well as KFOR and the international UNMIK police, of having catastrophically failed in their mandate to protect minorities. The international UNMIK police and KFOR would have left many security tasks to the locally recruited KPS. While "some KPS officials" had done their job responsibly, "however, many other KPS officials" stood idly by when the mobs of ethnic Albanians burned houses and attacked Serbs and other members of minorities, even if these attacks were only a few meters away happened to officials remotely. "Some KPS officials" have shown clear partisanship by arresting only Serbs who were defending their homes while ignoring the criminal behavior of the ethnic Albanians that was evident in front of them. In some cases, KPS officials have been charged with actively participating in the burning of minority homes. The grave allegations of complicity by Kosovar KPS members with the perpetrators also concerned Vushtrri , where the entire Ashkali community was forced out of their homes after being burned down by the crowd of around 300 Kosovar Albanians. A total of 58 KPS officers were reported injured in the rioting. When UNMIK released information about the prosecution of the March 2004 riots in June 2004, it did not provide any information about the cases involving alleged complicity of the KPS. According to other sources, investigations were underway against 100 KPS police officers in July 2004.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Secretary-General Saddened at Death of Sven Frederiksen, Head of European Union Police Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina . UN information service. January 27, 2004. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ↑ a b Peter Bouckaert, Failure to Protect: Anti-minority Violence in Kosovo, March 2004 (English). Human Rights Watch, Volume 16, No. 6 (D), July 2004. Alternative Internet sources : hrw.org PDF, English, hrw.org PDF, Albanian.
- ↑ a b c Amnesty International Report 2005 - Serbia and Montenegro - Covering events from January – December 2004 , Amnesty International, May 25, 2005, Internet version at unhcr.org, last accessed on March 13, 2013.
- ↑ Sharp criticism of the German KFOR contingent ( memento of March 14, 2013 on WebCite ) , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 27, 2004, archived from the original on March 14, 2013.