Latvia
| Author | Joseph Serio |
| Pages | 579-586 |
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Official country name: Republic of Latvia
Capital: Riga
Geographic description: Slightly larger than West Virginia, it borders Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia as well as the Baltic Sea
Population: 2,290,237 (est. 2005)
The State Police was established in 1918. At that time, Latvia was devastated by war, and its towns and villages suffered from starvation and poverty. The newly established police had to fight not only for the recently proclaimed independence but also against a wave of bandits and thieves. Many officers were killed or wounded as a result.
Over time, the economic situation stabilized and the level of criminality decreased. By the 1930s the Latvian police was acknowledged by foreign observers as one of the most professional and well-equipped police forces in Europe. The State Police enjoyed the respect and trust of society. The crime rate was comparatively low and the work of the police officer was prestigious and well paid.
After the occupation of Latvia on July 24, 1940, the police ceased to exist. Many officers were executed without investigation or trial. Others were deported from Latvia and spent a considerable amount of time in custody or in settlements. Only a few of them succeeded in avoiding the havoc brought on by the Soviet government, which had annexed Latvia. In more than a few instances, officers hid for upward of fifty years the fact that they had worked in the police force.
At the end of the 1980s, with the arrival of glasnost, perestroika, and a new political reality in the Soviet Union, the demand for the right to self-determination, civil freedoms, and democracy gradually increased. Ultimately, it led to a demand that the Soviet Union acknowledge the occupation and restore the independence of the Republic of Latvia. Tens of thousands of people participated in meetings, demonstrations, and strikes, sometimes swelling to more than one-third the population of the country. In the spring of 1990, the Parliament was elected in general democratic elections for the first time in fifty years. On May 4, 1990, the Parliament adopted the declaration, "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia."
Efforts of the Communist regime to use the militia to force back the people's movement for democracy and self-determination failed because most of the militia
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officers were on movement's side. In January 1991, to preclude the scenario of 1940, inhabitants of Riga made barricades and were ready to stand unarmed against tanks and special military units. As the only armed force that was with the people, the militia not only fought crime but also protected state institutions and other important locations in this period. During the night of January 20 Soviet military Special Forces attacked the Ministry of Interior. The attack failed, but five people were killed, among whom were two militia officers; eight militia officers were wounded. Despite the seemingly critical situation, the independence movement succeeded. On June 4, 1991, the Parliament adopted the law "On Police," and the process of establishing the institution that is now known as the police started.
The principal purposes of the Ministry of Interior are to develop and implement public policy in the fields of crime prevention, to safeguard public order and security, including the state border, to protect personal rights, legal interests, and state security, to tackle issues regarding registration of private individuals, migration control, and citizenship, to provide fire safety, fire fighting and rescue service, and civil defense, and to perform other tasks stipulated as the ministry's responsibility in specific legal enactments.
The operation of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Interior is under the command of the minister and the secretary of the state. The central apparatus contains five departments and individual structural units subordinate to the secretary of the state: Chief Inspection, Secret Regime Division, Personnel Management Division, Internal Audit Department, and Finance and Property Department.
There are more than 20,000 people working in the Interior system, which accounts for almost a third of all employees at state institutions in Latvia.
The police fall under the organizational purview of the Ministry of Interior and are comprised of the State Police, the Security Police, and local government police. The State Police act in accordance with regulations approved by the minister of interior. The Security Police act in accordance with regulations approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The Municipal Police are incorporated in the relevant local governments.
The State Police are designated to protect the state and society from criminal and other illegal threats to life, health, rights and freedoms, property, and interests. The central apparatus of the State Police organizes and coordinates activities of the State Police divisions, including the Main Criminal Police Department, the Main Public Order Police Department, the Railroad Police Board, the Pretrial Investigation Board, the Forensic Center of the State Police, and the Police School of the State Police. The central governing body of the police also oversees the Administrative Department, Complaints and Discipline Branch, Personnel and Recruitment Board, Secret Regime Guarantee Unit, Special Correspondence Unit, and Planning and Finance Board.
The State Police are divided into two general branches: Civil Police and Criminal Police. The Civil Police comprise the State Police Central Civil Police administration, the Traffic Police, the territorial, transport, and immigration units, as well as the police precincts. Their function is to guarantee public order, combat crime, and guard specific facilities. The Criminal Police comprise the State Police Central Criminal Police administration and the territorial criminal police. The functions of the Criminal Police include the prevention and disclosure of criminal offenses; the search for persons who are hiding from inquiry, investigation, and the court, evading prison, or are missing; and ensuring the participation of forensic experts in investigatory activities.
The Criminal Police perform their duties in cooperation with the Civil Police and local government police. The Criminal Police acquaint themselves with all the materials located in the institutions of the Civil Police and local government police and take over from the Civil Police the handling of any case regarding criminal offenses.
The administration and divisions of the Civil Police and the Criminal Police are:
Manage police work in relevant cities, districts, and rail, air, and water transport zones; coordinate the activities of police service and precincts in the prevention and disclosure of criminal offenses, as well as in guaranteeing public safety
Manage the disclosure and prevention of criminal offenses and searches for criminals and missing persons
Within their respective jurisdictions coordinate the work of the Civil Police, the Criminal Police, and local government police, and the cooperation of the police with local governments, institutions, organizations, and the public
Select candidates for training in educational institutions of the Ministry of Interior
In 2003 there were approximately 8,000 personnel serving in the State Police. The financial resources of the State Police are derived from:
Grants from general revenue of the state budget
Their own income obtained from entering into contracts with legal persons and natural persons in
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accordance with prescribed procedures; and use by the State Police of 80 percent of the income gained from the sale of confiscated property, goods, or other objects that the State Police seized as prescribed by law
The Security Police are directly subordinate to the Ministry of Interior. This force grew out of the 1993 unification of two government agencies: the government security service, which had been founded in 1990 shortly after independence, and the Department of Information, founded in 1991. Initially called the State Department of Economic Sovereignty, this force became the Security Police in December 1994.
The Security Police operate according to the National Security Law, the Law on Police, the Law on State Security Institutions, and statutes approved by the Cabinet of...
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