Czech Republic
| Author | Miroslav Scheinost, Zdenek Karabec |
| Pages | 335-341 |
Page 335
Official country name: Czech Republic
Capital: Prague
Geographic description: A landlocked country in central Europe
Population: 10,241,138 (est. 2005)
In 1918 the independent Czechoslovak Republic was established. Its police forces copied the structure of the police that operated under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The police were placed under the Ministry of Interior and the police officers were managed by the police headquarters located in bigger cities or by the police commissariats in smaller cities. The police were divided into the uniformed and nonuniformed (criminal) police. The countryside was outside the authority of police in cities and the tasks of the police forces were fulfilled by the gendarmerie.
During the period of Communist regime the police force was reorganized into the unified organization called Corps on National Security and it was often misused as a tool of political power, especially its special service, called State Security. It targeted the political opponents of the regime. After the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, this service was abolished and the whole police corps went through a profound change concerning both the organization and the staff and it was renamed to the Police of the Czech Republic.
A fundamental piece of police legislation is Act Number 283/1991 Coll., which regulates the organization and activity of the Police of the Czech Republic. Police are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The chief of police is appointed by the minister of interior with the approval of the Czech government.
Police are generally divided into uniformed and nonuniformed police officers. Uniformed police are responsible for the public order and security and they comprise the Police on the Beat, the Traffic Police, the Alien and Border Police, the Railway Police, the Air Service, and some special departments, such as the Department of the Protection of Constitutional Authorities. Nonuniformed police are responsible chiefly for the detection and investigation of crime and they comprise above all the Criminal Police and the Investigation Service. The scope of activity of some police departments and units covers the whole territory of the Czech Republic (e.g., Department for Detection of Organized Crime, Unit for the Detection of Corruption and Financial
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Crime, National Anti-Drug Headquarters, Air Service, Rapid Employment Unit, Institute of Criminalistics, and Office for Documentation and Investigation of Communism Crimes), while other police forces that act within the regions are managed by the regional police headquarters.
The police force employs police officers as well as civilians. Police officers are divided into three categories. The lowest is represented by warrant officers with six internal grades (the basic rank is staff sergeant), then there are officers with seven internal grades from second lieutenant to colonel, and finally there are generals with three grades: major general, lieutenant general, and colonel general. Warrant officers and officer ranks are conferred by the police authorities, while the general rank can be conferred by the decision of the president of the Czech Republic on the basis of a governmental proposal.
Police salaries are generally higher than the average salary in the Czech Republic. In 2003 the salary was up to 14,000 Czech crowns per month, but it was distinctly lower in comparison to other law enforcement authorities such as judiciary or state attorneys. Pay is based on rank and the performed function, but there is also a possibility of some differential surcharges.
Police of the Czech Republic are managed by the General Police Headquarters, headed by the chief of police. Police forces consist in formations (departments and services) acting within the whole territory of the Czech Republic and are managed centrally. Formations have regionally limited activity. The individual departments, services, regional headquarters, and other organizational units of the police forces are headed by directors and appointed by the chief of police.
Basic and substantive information about the police and their activity is at the disposal of the public on the Web pages of the Czech Ministry of Interior (http://www.mvcr.cz). To facilitate the communication with the media, there are authorized press agents at police headquarters and services. Information and preventive police units designated for communication with the public with special attention paid to children were established in the framework of local police departments. Police officers are involved in the preparation and implementation of crime prevention programs in the cities and communities and collaborate with the representatives of municipal councils, other state institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. Missing persons and wanted offenders are regularly published on television stations. Citizens may contact the police quickly and directly using a special phone line.
Local police in the Czech Republic may be established by a decision of the municipal council on the basis of the Act on the Local Police Number 553/1991 Coll. The local police are responsible for the public order, especially in providing protection and safety of persons and property, to observe the rules of public peace and coexistence of citizens, to maintain traffic safety, and to disclose the minor offenses and administrative misdemeanors. The local police are headed by the magistrate/mayor or by a charged member of the board of a municipal council. The local police collaborate closely with the police of the Czech Republic.
Only Czech citizens above twenty-one years of age can serve as members of the local police on the condition that they fulfill the qualification requirements stipulated by the Ministry of Interior and have not been sentenced for an intentional crime. Even though the local police are armed, the use of guns is allowed only in emergencies (life-threatening situations or the risk of escape of a dangerous offender).
The uniform of local police is usually of a black color. Its appearance is determined by the public notice of municipal authority while its obligatory details are fixed by the Ministry of the Interior.
Besides the Police of the Czech Republic and the local police, there are many private security agencies. They are defined as a so-called licensed trade under the conditions regulated by the Act on Commercial Activity Number 455/1991 Coll. They are usually hired to protect objects, buildings, events, and so on.
The police services most often met by the public are the Police on the Beat and Traffic Police. There are about 16,000 police officers serving in 606 local departments and some special departments (e.g., Riverine Police, Mounted Police, and Subway Police) of the Police on the Beat. In the line of duty, there were 213 police officers of the Police on the Beat injured in 2001 (but still, the incidents when a police officer from any police service was killed in the line of duty have been an exceptionally low number). An important statistic concerns the activity of the Traffic Police with regard to the high number of traffic accidents in the Czech...
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