Kosovo Police - WikiHQ

The Kosovo Police (; ) is the national law enforcement agency of Kosovo. It was established in 1999 and took its current form with the 2008 police law. It consists of five departments and eight regional directorates and is represented at the political level by the .

History

After the end of the Kosovo War, policing in Kosovo was conducted by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and KFOR. According to the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK had a mandate to establish a new police force in Kosovo, and in the meantime, to maintain civil law and order.

The predecessor of the Kosovo Police, the Kosovo Police Service (KPS; ) was established on 6 September 1999, with the admission of the first 176 cadets of the KPS into the Police School of Vushtrria. The school was renovated by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which additionally trained the first cadets, establishing a training regime based on Western standards. KPS was subordinated to UNMIK and the UNMIK police commissioner retained command authority over both the international police and KPS. Its name was chosen by the first international police commissioner in Kosovo, Sven Frederiksen.

In February 2008, after Kosovo declared its independence, the force became a governmental agency of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and was renamed the Kosovo Police (KP; ). The Kosovo Police is overseen by Kosovo's and its mandate is regulated by the Constitution and the law on police.

alt=Flag of the Kosovo Police|thumb|A member of the Kosovo Police holds the flag of the agency.

The Kosovo Police has grown steadily since 1999, and in 2004 reached its planned full size of nearly 7,000 officers. As of 2018, it had around 8,721 employees, with roughly 8,000 of them being police officers, and the remainder either civilian staff or police cadets. The police aims to represent the ethnic representation of the population it serves, with ethnic minorities (Serbs, Bosniaks, Roma, Turks, and Gorani) making up about 10% of its membership, with the remaining 90% being ethnic Albanians.

In November 2022, during the 2022–2023 North Kosovo crisis, around 300 Serb policemen in the north of Kosovo resigned en masse as a form of protest against the ban on Serbian car plates by the Kosovo Government, leaving the north with effectively no active police force. The Kosovo government reacted by temporarily replacing the resignees with Albanian policemen, which resulted in protests by the local Serb population. The Kosovo Police responded by opening a call for applications for ethnic minorities to replace the resignees.

Organization and Structure

The agency is headed by its director general, who is appointed by the prime minister. The director general serves a five-year term. He appoints the directors of each of the five departments of the police, as well as the directors of the eight regional directorates of the police.

The agency consists of five departments: the Department of Operations, the Investigation Department, the Border Department, the Department of Support Services, and the Human Resources Department.

Department of Operations

The Department of Operations is the main department of the Kosovo Police and employs the bulk of its members. It is headed by the director of the Department of Operations and consists of three divisions: The Division of Public Safety, the Road Traffic Division, and the Specialized Units Division. The first two form the backbone of the Kosovo Police and deal with issues such as general policing operations, prevention of petty crime, community policing, and road safety. The specialized units support the other two divisions, and they additionally engage in close-protection to VIPs and diplomats, protection of objects with special importance, anti-terrorism operations, and riot control.

Division of Public Safety

thumb|A member of the Kosovo Police helps an Afghan child after her arrival at the [[Pristina International Airport.]]

The Division of Public Safety is part of the Department of Operations and consists of eight regional directorates of the Police and 40 police stations. The regional directorates are headed by a director, who is appointed by the director general. The only exception is in the north of Kosovo, where Kosovo Serbs form a local majority; there, since the 2013 Brussels Agreement, the regional director is appointed by the Interior Minister, after a joint proposal of candidates by the mayors of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Zvečan and Leposavić. The forty police stations are headed by station commanders, who are also appointed by the director general. The eight regional directorates are: RD Pristina, RD Gjilan, RD Ferizaj, RD Prizren, RD Gjakova, RD Peja, RD Mitrovica-South and RD Mitrovica-North. CIVPOL Chief Jim Renfrow led the unit until the end of his CIVPOL mission in late 2003 and was then replaced by Peter Willig from Germany. RSCU was commanded by the Pristina Regional Commander from UNMIK, Superintendent Paul Hamlin (Northern Ireland).

Afterwards, the name was changed to the Regional Operational Support Units (ROSU), and a separate ROSU unit was placed in each of the then-seven regional directorates of Kosovo. In March 2005 the SWAT teams were formalized via the launch of the "Special Intervention Group/SIG" (/GSI) project. In the first new recruitment batch, only 18 trainees were selected among hundreds of applicants. SIG was equipped, coached, and trained by a team of UNMIK professional specialised instructors from France, Egypt, Germany, Bulgaria, the US, and Denmark. The unit was reformed in September 2006 and by April 2007 it was renamed to the First Intervention Team (FIT). After Kosovo's declaration of independence, the unit was renamed the Special Intervention Unit (SIU).

SIU was involved in the Banjska attack on 24 September 2023, in which its troops neutralized an armed group that had earlier murdered a sergeant of the Public Safety Division during a patrol.

K-9 Unit

The K-9 (canine) unit is a small specialized unit within the Department of Operations that engages in patrol, narcotics detection, and explosives detection. The unit reports to the central police command and it often coordinates its actions with the Border Police.

thumb|The K-9 Unit during a training session

The unit was established in November 2002. Initially it had five operators for patrolling, but in 2003 it was expanded as a unit with five more operators. Officers completed their basic training in Great Britain and developed their skills under the monitoring of international instructors.

Unit for Treatment of Explosives

thumb|U.S. Army Staff Sgt. assists a member of the Kosovo Police Bomb Squad with the detonation cord for a demolition range in [[Rahovec.]]

The Unit for Treatment of Explosives is part of the Department of Operations and responds to calls from all 8 of Kosovo's Regional Police Directorates. The unit specializes in responding to cases of bomb threats, the threat by chemical and biological weapons, disposing of bombs, investigating post-blast scenes, conducting searches in high-risk facilities, compiling expert reports for courts, as well as assisting other specialized units in their operations. The unit additionally closely cooperates with investigation units and the prosecutor's office in the course of post-blast investigations, bomb threats, and during the arrest of persons who possess illegal explosive devices. The unit was established in 2006.

Directorate for Securing of Objects with Special Importance and Personalities

The Close Protection Unit within the Kosovo Police was established in December 1999. After the declaration of Kosovo's independence in 2008, the unit's functions were expanded significantly. As a result, the Directorate for Securing of Objects with Special Importance and Personalities (DSOSIP) was established and the Close Protection Unit became a part of it.

thumb|The Close Protection Unit

Today, the Directorate for Securing of Objects with Special Importance and Personalities consists of the Security Unit of Presidency-Assembly-Government, the Close Protection Unit, the Unit for Securing of Ministerial and Presidential Objects, the Unit for Securing of Police Objects, the Unit for Securing of Diplomatic Objects, and the Unit for Securing of objects of Cultural and Religious Heritage.

The units of the directorate provide personal protection to the president, prime minister, speaker of assembly, government buildings, embassies based in Kosovo, as well as objects of cultural or religious importance.

The Close Protection Unit also undertakes tactical operations, escorting delegations, and evacuations of both international staff and Kosovo Police officers.

Department of Investigations

The Department of Investigations is one of the five departments of the agency, tasked with law enforcement, the combating of organized crime and corruption. The department is headed by the director of the Department of Investigations. Its specific tasks include the combating of organized crime and corruption, fighting violent extremism and terrorism, collecting evidence for courts, as well as cooperating with international agencies and exchanging information related to international criminal persons and groups.

The department consists of three divisions: the Crime Investigation Division, the Division Against Organized Crime, and the Anticorruption Task Force.

The Crime Investigation Division

The Crime Investigation Division is one of the divisions of the Department of Investigations that covers all issues related to crime. It consists of five directorates: the Directorate for Investigation of Serious Crimes, the Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crime and Corruption, the Directorate Against Terrorism, the Directorate for Intelligence and Analysis, and the Directorate for Forensics.

thumb|A border officer checking a traveler's passport at [[Pristina International Airport|Prishtina International Airport]]

The Border Department strives to ensure the free movement of people, goods, and services, and to prevent cross-border crime. It cooperates with other departments of the agency and with international agencies and institutions. It makes risk assessments and its work mainly consists of observing and monitoring border crossings, and reacting when needed. The Border Department is also responsible for legitimizing travelers at the Pristina International Airport.

Department of Support Services

The Department of Support Services is one of the five departments of the agency. It is headed by the director of Support Services.

Human Resources Department

The Human Resources Department is the fifth department of the agency. Headed by the director of the Human Resources Department, it is responsible for the hiring and training of police officers. The department is made of two divisions: The Division of Personnel and Administration, and the Training Division. It additionally includes the Commission for Review of the Use of Force, which is responsible for management and administration of the cases of use of physical force by the police officers.

Division of Personnel and Administration

The Division of Personnel and Administration is tasked with identifying recruitment needs, recruitment and hiring of new police officers, monitoring of training programs, identification of the need for promotion in ranks, support of police officers in issues related to mental and physical health, the general welfare of all police officers, and the managing the central archive of the agency.

Interpol membership

In November 2018 Kosovo's application to join Interpol received 68 votes in favor, 51 against, and 16 countries abstained, even though the Kosovo Police fulfilled the technical criteria to join the international organization that facilitates international police cooperation. Kosovo accused Serbia for lobbying against its application to join the organization and retaliated against Serbia with 100% tariffs on imported goods.

Equipment

Firearms

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! Model

! Image

! Caliber

! Origin

! Note

! colspan="5" style="align: center;" |Pistols

| Glock 19x9

| 100px

| 9×19mm Parabellum

| The compact version of the Glock 17

! colspan="5" style="align: center;" |Submachine guns and machine guns

| MP7

| 100x100px

| HK 4.6×30mm

| MP5

| 100px

| 9×19mm Parabellum

| SIG MPX-K

| 9×19mm Parabellum

| HK UMP

| 100px

| 9×19mm Parabellum

| HK MG4

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| M60

| 100px

| 7.62×51mm NATO

| M2A1

| 100px

| 12.7×99mm NATO (.50 BMG)

! colspan="5" style="align: center;" | Assault rifles and carbines

| VHS 2

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| Used by the Rapid Intervention Unit

| SIG M400

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| HK G36

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| Also the G36-C variant

| HK 416

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| MPT-55

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| Barrett REC7di

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO

| HK 417

| 100px

| 7.62×51mm NATO

| AK-47

| 100px

| 7.62×39mm

| AKM

| 100px

| 7.62×39mm

| MPi-KM

| 100px

| 7.62×39mm

| ASH-78

| 100px

| 7.62×39mm

| Zastava M70

| 100px

| 7.62×39mm

| SIG 516

| 100px

| 5.56×45mm NATO 7.62×51mm NATO

| Also the SIG 716 G2 variant

! colspan="5" style="align: center;" | Shotguns

| Mossberg 535

| 100px

| Remington 870

| 100px

| Benelli M4

| 100px

! colspan="5" style="align: center;" | Sniper rifles

| Sako TRG-42

| 100px