Politicization and criminalization of the police, mobbing and low wages are the key reasons why an increasing number of police officers are leaving the force. According to unofficial estimates, around 700 people have left the police since the beginning of the year.
Momčilo Vidojević, the president of the New Police Trade Union, says there is no official data on the number of policemen who have returned their badges and guns, but that it is certain that a large number of employees are increasingly leaving the force. He adds that the problem, especially the fact that senior police officers are leaving the force, can greatly affect public safety.
“The high degree of politicization and criminalization of the police has forced so many police officers to leave. For many years, people who are obedient to politicians and criminals have been appointed to leadership positions within the police, which honourable and honest police officers cannot stand. Quite a few of them have left the force for harder and worse paid jobs because they couldn’t endure the humiliation any longer,” Vidojević points out.
Momir Stojanović, former director of the Military Intelligence Agency (VBA), says that the key reason for police officers leaving is dissatisfaction with the overall situation in the police.
“Inexperienced and unprofessional people are appointed to high management positions in the police by political parties. There is also a pronounced lack of respect for the profession, while unprofessional staff, who happen to be close to the authorities in power, are often promoted. Also, there is mobbing and persecution of police officers who are against selective justice, criminals close to the authorities are protected and investigations are often compromised by media reports. Plus, inadequate police officers are rewarded. All of this creates an atmosphere of pronounced mistrust and the feeling that you are constantly being watched. But it’s the overall atmosphere in the police that’s the main reason why officers are leaving,” Stojanović adds.
Srđan Milivojević, a member of the Democratic Party, says that it is impossible to fulfil the police oath “if the police are led by the mafia and their concubines who pick on people who have dedicated their lives to police work.”
(Danas, 16.10.2023)
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