Universal Cops

"Serbia will see what the police academy means to the security of this country," dean Radojica Maksimovic said during last year's security forces day celebration.

Serbian citizens' glimps in the budget proposals adopted by the republican parliament in the last days of the year gave them some insight into what the academy means to them and their wallets. The academy was given 34,592,000 dinars (close to 10 million DEM). The academy takes about 115 new entries every year and is currently schooling three generations which means each cadet's schooling costs 30,000 DEM. In comparison the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences with its 181 members got 8.7 million dinars this year, i.e. around 15,000 DEM a member. That means this state values a police cadet twice as much as its top intellectuals.

Dean Maksimovic said the academy is based on diversity; there are 11 subjects in the first year and a total of 30 are required to graduate. Subjects are divided into five areas: police, crime, military, law and social sciences. The academy is a boarding school (which we weren't allow to tour). The cadets all get scholarships, housing, food and pocket money. To qualify a cadet has to be at least 172 centimeters tall, capable of doing 10 pushups in 10 seconds and there's a strict entrance exam.

This school year, over 1,000 young men applied and the school could afford to take the best. There's also a system of selection once cadets are enrolled: just two fifths of the first generation are still there.

The academy also schools another 40 cadets from the Bosnian Serb Republic and Republic of Serb Krajina and Montenegro. That last is interesting sine it casts light on relations within the federation; namely, if the academy schools personnel for both members of the federation why isn't it a federal institution.

That isn't the only question about the academy.

The diversity Maksimovic mentioned is reflected in the subjects that are more military than police: if there's some logic to teaching a future police officer the basics of military strategy and weapons why do they have a subject called theory of military skill where they learn to move divisions, brigades and armies and why do they need to learn to drive tanks and direct artillery fire. That brings us to the question that was asked over a year ago when a police parade in Kosovo included armored cars, 120mm mortars and anti-aircraft guns. VREME asked then whether the separatists will attack the police from the air.

The symptoms of the military line in the police are evident in the new law which replaces existing police ranks (inspectors and such) with ranks from lieutenant to general. The government said the ranks were more suitable but didn't explain why. Why should a lieutenant be better a directing traffic than an ordinary traffic policeman? that is something some policemen ask: "all those kids who graduate the academy will be convinced they have a superior education," a Belgrade inspector (future captain and law school graduate) said. "A policeman is only as good as his contacts with various people. No academy can teach you to talk to criminals and solve some situations and they'll have trouble understanding that. There'll be a lot of friction between the old and the new people." Neither he nor his colleagues have any clear opinion on what the new ranks will mean; all they know is what they read in the newspapers since no one has formally informed them.

That will cost a lot: although former Serbian police minister Radmilo Bogdanovic proudly stressed that the new insignia and new uniforms won't require additional funding, we know the Yugoslav Army (VJ) barely managed to finance a redesigning of its insignia. Also, there's the fact that there are 35,000 active military personnel and twice that many police. The additional funding won't be needed because it's already there in the budget allocation. Police salaries will consume 1.3 billion dinars (almost 400 million DEM) which is half the amount required by the Yugoslav Army for its maintenance needs.

The VJ is aware of the discrepancy and they view the new police ranks cautiously. "Will Radovan Stojic Badza and Franko Simatovic, as assistant ministers, become generals and what will Sokolovic (Zoran Sokolovic, Serbian Police Minister) be," asked a high ranking army officer who doesn't want his name published. VJ circles are especially bitter that the police ranks will be awarded by presidential decree while army ranks are given under stricter criteria. "For a captain to become a major, he has to go through the general staff academy or get a masters degree from a civilian school; for a colonel to become a general he has to go through national defence school or get a doctor's degree. The police will get their ranks overnight," the officer said and added: "Objectively and internal army is being created here. They want an autonomous armed force that will regulate the situation at home and want to educe the army to border units. The regime basically dislikes the army and relies on it only out of necessity."

On the other hand, the para-military organization of the police is not unknown in the world. "What has been announced doesn't have to a bad thing in itself," said Budimir Babovic, former Interpol secretary general. He said the gendarmerie that exists in France, Belgium, Austria, Greece and Turkey are basically military organizations and often answers directly to the defence ministry. He added that Italy has the carabineri and Spain and the US have a national guard while Russia has the MVD. "All these formations also deal with police affairs such as maintaining law and order and fighting crime. But their basic function is supporting the current state order," Babovic said.

There's one vital difference between those examples and the model here: all the gendarmeries and national guards are administratively separated from the police, primarily to exert efficient control. Here there has been no control since the breakup of the parliamentary constitutional protection committee.

Babovic the latest changes in the police stress the military angle. "This looks like a concept that could be a mixture between the army and police. The introduction of the ranks could be aimed at preventing union organizing and the pluralization of political trends in the police. That points to the conclusion that the police will be even more rigid."

As Maksimovic said, Serbia will see. The shape that is appearing on the horizon seems frightening.

"Serbia will see what the police academy means to the security of this country," dean Radojica Maksimovic said during last year's security forces day celebration.

Serbian citizens' glimps in the budget proposals adopted by the republican parliament in the last days of the year gave them some insight into what the academy means to them and their wallets. The academy was given 34,592,000 dinars (close to 10 million DEM). The academy takes about 115 new entries every year and is currently schooling three generations which means each cadet's schooling costs 30,000 DEM. In comparison the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences with its 181 members got 8.7 million dinars this year, i.e. around 15,000 DEM a member. That means this state values a police cadet twice as much as its top intellectuals.

Dean Maksimovic said the academy is based on diversity; there are 11 subjects in the first year and a total of 30 are required to graduate. Subjects are divided into five areas: police, crime, military, law and social sciences. The academy is a boarding school (which we weren't allow to tour). The cadets all get scholarships, housing, food and pocket money. To qualify a cadet has to be at least 172 centimeters tall, capable of doing 10 pushups in 10 seconds and there's a strict entrance exam.

This school year, over 1,000 young men applied and the school could afford to take the best. There's also a system of selection once cadets are enrolled: just two fifths of the first generation are still there.

The academy also schools another 40 cadets from the Bosnian Serb Republic and Republic of Serb Krajina and Montenegro. That last is interesting sine it casts light on relations within the federation; namely, if the academy schools personnel for both members of the federation why isn't it a federal institution.

That isn't the only question about the academy.

The diversity Maksimovic mentioned is reflected in the subjects that are more military than police: if there's some logic to teaching a future police officer the basics of military strategy and weapons why do they have a subject called theory of military skill where they learn to move divisions, brigades and armies and why do they need to learn to drive tanks and direct artillery fire. That brings us to the question that was asked over a year ago when a police parade in Kosovo included armored cars, 120mm mortars and anti-aircraft guns. VREME asked then whether the separatists will attack the police from the air.

The symptoms of the military line in the police are evident in the new law which replaces existing police ranks (inspectors and such) with ranks from lieutenant to general. The government said the ranks were more suitable but didn't explain why. Why should a lieutenant be better a directing traffic than an ordinary traffic policeman? that is something some policemen ask: "all those kids who graduate the academy will be convinced they have a superior education," a Belgrade inspector (future captain and law school graduate) said. "A policeman is only as good as his contacts with various people. No academy can teach you to talk to criminals and solve some situations and they'll have trouble understanding that. There'll be a lot of friction between the old and the new people." Neither he nor his colleagues have any clear opinion on what the new ranks will mean; all they know is what they read in the newspapers since no one has formally informed them.

That will cost a lot: although former Serbian police minister Radmilo Bogdanovic proudly stressed that the new insignia and new uniforms won't require additional funding, we know the Yugoslav Army (VJ) barely managed to finance a redesigning of its insignia. Also, there's the fact that there are 35,000 active military personnel and twice that many police. The additional funding won't be needed because it's already there in the budget allocation. Police salaries will consume 1.3 billion dinars (almost 400 million DEM) which is half the amount required by the Yugoslav Army for its maintenance needs.

The VJ is aware of the discrepancy and they view the new police ranks cautiously. "Will Radovan Stojic Badza and Franko Simatovic, as assistant ministers, become generals and what will Sokolovic (Zoran Sokolovic, Serbian Police Minister) be," asked a high ranking army officer who doesn't want his name published. VJ circles are especially bitter that the police ranks will be awarded by presidential decree while army ranks are given under stricter criteria. "For a captain to become a major, he has to go through the general staff academy or get a masters degree from a civilian school; for a colonel to become a general he has to go through national defence school or get a doctor's degree. The police will get their ranks overnight," the officer said and added: "Objectively and internal army is being created here. They want an autonomous armed force that will regulate the situation at home and want to educe the army to border units. The regime basically dislikes the army and relies on it only out of necessity."

On the other hand, the para-military organization of the police is not unknown in the world. "What has been announced doesn't have to a bad thing in itself," said Budimir Babovic, former Interpol secretary general. He said the gendarmerie that exists in France, Belgium, Austria, Greece and Turkey are basically military organizations and often answers directly to the defence ministry. He added that Italy has the carabineri and Spain and the US have a national guard while Russia has the MVD. "All these formations also deal with police affairs such as maintaining law and order and fighting crime. But their basic function is supporting the current state order," Babovic said.

There's one vital difference between those examples and the model here: all the gendarmeries and national guards are administratively separated from the police, primarily to exert efficient control. Here there has been no control since the breakup of the parliamentary constitutional protection committee.

Babovic the latest changes in the police stress the military angle. "This looks like a concept that could be a mixture between the army and police. The introduction of the ranks could be aimed at preventing union organizing and the pluralization of political trends in the police. That points to the conclusion that the police will be even more rigid."

As Maksimovic said, Serbia will see. The shape that is appearing on the horizon seems frightening.