Laws and Maces

Belgraders were recently moved to tears when they realized that the Serbian police, in spite of isolation, managed to keep in step with the latest technological developments. Many felt the blessings of progress on their skins (or mucous membranes). Apart from last spring's display of police paraphernalia (helmets, shields, bullet-proof vests, viziers, transporters, water cannon, long and sawn-off barrels, poisons and several days later horses and dogs), some new arguments of persuasion have been noticed. The new truncheon has created great interest.

It cannot be claimed with confidence if the new truncheons had first been tried out on the backs of ethnic Albanians, but Belgrade saw its Serbian premiere. At any rate this is not a domestic innovation. The truncheon's popularity spread across the Atlantic and this improved model of modern design found its way into the hands of the Serbian police.

As a symbol of authority the truncheon is as old as the police (Egypt, the 14 century B.C.). Its length and material have varied according to local customs. The modern police have abandoned the wooden truncheon in favor of a longer plastic one. The standard rubber truncheon used by the Yugoslav police can be lethal (the courts know of such cases). These new plastic truncheons could hardly be described as being harmless. It is an interesting fact that the Yugoslav police did not use truncheons until the mid fifties: it was considered a "bourgeois and capitalist" object.

Tear gas, the main means of persuasion used by the police, has also changed. Long ago the police used the CN preparation, an irritant half as strong as the currently popular CS gas, which is listed among poisons. One lethal dose of CS equals two of "good old CN." Damage caused to the body by CS is proportionally more serious. There are very precise rules as to the allowed concentration of tear gas. The extent to which these rules were observed on June 1, can best be confirmed by those who sniffed and coughed while passing by the Federal Assembly building on June 2 at eleven in the evening -some 24 hours later! Tear gas is not really a gas, but consists of microscopic crystals which are heavier than air. This is why the streets must be washed immediately after it has been used.

Methods of throwing tear gas are not naive: grenades which release the gas immediately or gradually, sometimes burst. The 38mm calibre guns and pistols used for firing tear gas and rubber bullets can kill if a direct hit is made from close range. The rules for handling rubber and plastic bullets specify that the flesh must not be hit, but that the ground in front of the demonstrators must be aimed at, in order that some of the energy in ricocheting might be lost. Rules are rarely observed.

It is a fact that the police world wide are being systematically armed with increasingly dangerous and lethal means of persuasion (fire arms etc). Namely, by the end of the sixties, pistols used by the police in Europe were not, as a rule, over 7.65mm in calibre, while those in use today are military calibers of 9mm. In this our police are in step with the rest of the world. Today the official M-57 military 7.62mm TT calibre pistol is being used (one of the most penetrating bullets in wide use). The "TT" is being replaced by the CZ-99 (Crvena Zastava) 9mm calibre model which was initially made for the U.S. market. Sanctions put an end to exports, so that the surplus, to the joy of those concerned, was distributed to special police units.

Another problem is that the police are increasingly using automatic weapons: 9mm automatic rifles, modern military charge rifles, machine guns... All this is contrary to the basic tactical needs of the police - not to kill, but to arrest (or disperse) crowds. The strength of modern military weapons is too great for police requirements and conditions of work: 9mm calibre or 7.62mm bullets can penetrate and ricochet, thus heightening the risk of wounding accidental passers by. This is especially true of the .357 Magnum bullet because of its great speed. The deadliness of long barrels need not be gone into.

When discussing the arms and equipment of the domestic police, it is possible to imagine situations in which the use of water cannons is necessary, trucks with bars, automatic guns and even machine guns fixed to armored transporters. But what is the purpose of recoilless cannon on transporters? What do reserve police units need a mortar thrower for, as seen on TV footage of an exercise. When talk about armored vehicles is added, an obvious conclusion is reached. It is hardly likely that artillery will be used in the loudly announced and already watered down battle against crime, only uncomfortable memories remain of Croatia's recipe for turning the police into a republican (naturally national) army. In his fatal chat with the military leadership, ex-Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic expressed concern over the Serbian police numbers (70,000-80,000 men depending on the source of information, while the number of reserve policemen remains unclear). Are the police being transformed into a civil war army, stronger than the Yugoslav Army? Will the strength and numbers of the police make life more secure for citizens in Serbia?

Be that as it may, discipline and the human factor are key elements. A policeman is by nature a realist. He is well informed of the political situation and the wishes of the regime he is defending (democratic or otherwise). In a given situation a policeman understands the rules of the game very well: if the rules are observed, he and his superiors will take care to adapt. If, however, abuse and an excess of violence are tolerated, or God forbid - suggested and encouraged, a hypocritical situation is created in which both the citizens and the police suffer. The police are people who by the very nature of their job rely on rules and regulations, on an ORDER which is a cornerstone of their psychology. A disrupting of this order and putting the police in a situation where they are supposed to back up and cover up for others' lies, leads to a feedback of frustration and increased violence. According to a police home truth, those who are insecure - beat. This is something every cop in the street knows. When they feel that they are in the service of a dubious cause, the police, out of desperation hit harder than when they know they are in the right.

If the rules of the game are observed only on paper, and political hints and winks encourage their violation, psychological and political problems arise: the foundations of society (the rule of law and social agreement) are loosened and everything becomes possible. A cynical atmosphere takes over in which politics are reduced to bare force and current events are presented as "Danica (wife of Vuk Draskovic) amok and only ten of us." Why should the police observe self-discipline and respect the law when none of those in authority are not doing so? The new and harder truncheon is an expression of this situation. The truncheons may have been improved, but our skulls haven't.