Recently, there are more and more talks in Europe about the “common security system”, especially when it comes to the topic of anti-terrorism. BiH, which is planning to become a member of the European Union (EU), should become part of that system, although the current situation already require common action in numerous cases. Experts are claiming that quality police co-operation between the EU and its marginal parts cannot be realized without adequate equipment and weapons. Police units in BiH are in the competence of the cantons, entities and the state, and therefore the equipment of police structures varies.
“However, considering all the socio-economic parameters in which we operate, we have equipment that more or less meets the basic needs of police officers to be able to perform their official tasks. Naturally, the union is monitoring all activities and insists on the increase of the quality of equipment and weapon. I am sure that a lot more needs to be done when it comes to the personal equipment of police officers. Personal weapons are at a good level, but the protection of police officers in the field could be much better. I believe that every police officer should have a protective vest, which is not the case with the police officers in Canton Sarajevo,” stated the President of the Steering Committee of the Police Union of CS, Mirza Hadziabdic.
“We have the case that some smaller cities, for example in Herzegovina, are completely covered by video surveillance, while only certain roads or intersections in Sarajevo are covered with video surveillance. In that matter, BiH is lagging behind its neighbors, Serbia and Croatia, which have already introduced equipment for the recognition of registration labels that is connected with the database of criminal records. However, we have some positive examples as well. In the Zenica-Doboj Canton, in the segment of the motorways, video surveillance in the tunnels has been introduced, so recently, in only one day, a total of 6,000 speeding tickets have been recorded in the tunnel ‘the First March’. The use of drones gave a good result four months ago as well when cannabis plantations were discovered in the area of Zenica,” said Ahic.
Ahic believes that all police agencies in BiH, including SIPA (State Investigation and Protection Agency), have quality anti-terrorism equipment, including the equipment for data collection and processing. “I am sure that we can count on the support of international community. Regarding this, we have the equipment, the quality staff and a good will to eliminate any kind of terrorist threat, i.e. to achieve the best results on that field. The main problem is the overlapping of responsibilities. The fight against terrorism is the responsibility of both the state and the entities, and that shared competence in the system of coordination can cause some problems. When it comes to the police hierarchy, the standard commands are applied, and coordination might be complicated in cases of urgent response, i.e. in counter-terrorist activities,” said Professor Jasmin Ahic.
(Source: fokus.ba)
