Kosovo Police
| Kosovo Police | |
 |
|
| Logo of the Kosovo Police. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1999 |
| Employees | 9000 employees |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Governing body | Ministry of Interior |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Pristina, Kosovo[a] |
| Agency executive | Reshat Maliqi |
| Website | |
| Official Website | |
Kosovo Police (Albanian: Policia e Kosovës; Serbian: Kosovska Policija) is the police law enforcement agency of the Republic of Kosovo[a].
It was created in 1999 in the aftermath of the Kosovo War and subsequent withdrawal of the Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo.
The establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) included a large international policing component, named the UNMIK Police. They were given two primary tasks by UN Security Council Resolution 1244: 1) to establish a new police force; 2) in the meantime, to maintain civil law and order. The name for the new police force "Kosovo Police Service", was chosen by the first international police commissioner, Sven Frederiksen (Denmark).[1] Recruitment began immediately, and former police school premises in the city of Vučitrn were renovated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which began to train cadets.
As of February 2008, when Kosovo declared independence, the force became a governmental agency of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. Before, it was subordinated to the UNMIK Police, and the police commissioner retained command authority over both the international police and the Kosovo Police.
The Kosovo Police has grown steadily since 1999, and in 2004 reached its planned full size of nearly 7,000 officers. As of 2010, it has around 9,000 employees. About 85% of Kosovo Police officers are ethnic Albanians, 15% are ethnic Serbs and other ethnic minorities.
Contents |
[edit] Specialized units and breakdown
The bulk of the Kosovo Police are patrol officers. However the force has specialized investigative units in all six regions, including Organized Crime Units, Forensics Units, and several others. In addition to those specialist units in the investigative side of law enforcement, every region has a Regional Operational Support Unit (called ROSU), who are specially trained for times where forced entry is needed on search warrants, as well as acting as front line officers during riot situations, or in times when crowd control is necessary. The Kosovo Police Close Protection unit serves as the body guards for visiting heads of state, and for Kosovo's own political leaders.
The first ROSU in the country of Kosovo was for the capital Prishtina and was originally called Regional Street Crimes Unit in early 2002. That unit was based in Kosovo Polje and was used to support all regions as needed. Later due to successes of that unit and additional responsibilities in the team mission to include support of CPU on high risk principals, the name was changed to ROSU and duplicate units were placed in each region of Kosovo. The idea was to operate each unit as a separate "troop" with a commander reporting to the mission commander similar to how the State Police operate in the United States.
[edit] Close Protection Unit
The Close Protection Unit within the Kosovo Police was established on 21 January 2002.
The main task of the Close Protection Unit is to provide personal protection to VIPs. In addition, the Close Protection Unit provides protection for persons believed to be subject to threats.
The Close Protection Unit also undertakes tactical operations, escorting delegations, and evacuations of both international staff and Kosovo Police officers.
[edit] Special Intervention Unit SIU (Former GSI / SIG - FIT)
This KPS special police unit was created in 2003. The start was a standard SWAT unit (2 teams of 15 officers each) trained by (2) American contractors. In March 2005 the "Special Intervention Group – GSI / SIG" project ("Grupi Special i Intervenimit GSI" in Albanian or "Specijalna Interventna Grupa SIG" in Serbian) was launched on a low-profile bases as the Elite "CT" & "HR" force of Kosovo Police. A strict selection policy was followed through several firm tests; and only (18) trainees were selected among hundreds of willing volunteer officers to be the first generation of the unit. It was formed, established, equipped, coached and trained by a team of UNMIK professional specialized instructors who worked within that field in their native countries (1) "French PI", (1) "Egyptian HRF", (1) "German SEK" and (1) "Bulgarian SP OPS" trainers, in addition to (1) "US CPU" trainer, (1) "Danish PT" coach, and (1) German GSG-9 operator. That experienced team was led firstly by the French "GIPN", then the Egyptian "HRF" Trainer who became the 1st Commander of the GSI. By the end of 2006 due to certain difficulties the project was converted to a standard "SWAT" police unit level under the name of "FIT" (First Intervention Team. This project was developed and implemented by French military Gendarmerie Nationale members :Officer and NCO's from PI (Intervention Platoon). One US SWAT instructor and one Turkish Police officer intended the different training periods . In the late 2007 the Unit started its upgrading to face new challenges and ever changing threats. It took the name of SIU, stands for Specialized Intervention Unit. End of 2008 UNMIK handed the task over to EULEX (European Union Rule of Law mission) The international contribution is currently continuing through the mentoring-monitoring-advising tasks, accompanying the FIT/SIU on the way of the full autonomy.
[edit] K-9 Unit
K-9 unit of Kosovo Police is established in November 2002. The first generation on behalf of K-9 unit had seven officers. These officers have completed basic training in Great Britain continuing with further trainings with international instructors. In 2000, K-9 unit began to operate with five police patrol dogs and five dogs for narcotics detections.
K-9 unit performs different police operation with seven police patrol dogs, three dogs for narcotics detections and one for explosives detection. K-9 unit has three local instructors who organize trainings for young officers envisaged to be part of K-9 unit.
[edit] The Motorcyclists Unit
The Motorcyclists Unit functions within the Kosovo Police. The first generation of this Unit is established on 29 August 2003 and 7 police officers were trained by the international instructors.
Second generation is trained in the second half of 2003 with 5 police officers while the third generation with 9 police officers is trained in 2004. In 2005 is trained fourth generation with twelve police officers, while currently the Motorcycles Unit has 32 police officers.
The main responsibility of the Motorcyclists Unit is to escort of very important persons (VIP).
[edit] See also
- Kosovo Bomb Squad (IED/EOD)
- Kosovo Protection Corps
- Kosovo Security Force
- Kosovo Force (KFOR)
- International Police
- Triumf Riza
[edit] Notes and references
Notes:
| a. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 85 UN member states. |
References:
[edit] External links
- Kosovo Police Official Website
- Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Kosovo Center for Public Safety, Education and Development
|
