Law enforcement in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

is the responsibility of the Croatian Police ( hr, Hrvatska policija), which is the national police force of the country subordinated by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, carrying out certain tasks, the so-called, police activities, laid down by law.Police
/ref> The Police deals with the following affairs: protection of individual life, rights, security and integrity, protection of

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

, prevention and detection of criminal offences,

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than ad ...

s, violations, search for perpetrators of criminal offences, misdemeanors, violations and their bringing before competent authorities, control and management of

road traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

, conducting affairs with aliens, control and security of

state border State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, and other affairs defined by law.Republic of Croatia, Interpol
/ref> In the operative sense, police affairs are divided into affairs related to public peace and order, affairs related to security of public gatherings, affairs of the border police, affairs of safety of road traffic, affairs of counter-explosive protection, affairs of the criminal police, crime-technical affairs, crime-files affairs, administrative affairs,

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is th ...

-related affairs, status questions and asylum, affairs of protection and rescue, inspection affairs and technical affairs. In recent years, the force has been undergoing a reform with assistance from international agencies, including the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

since

OSCE Mission to Croatia OSCE Mission to Croatia was the field mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe operating in Croatia in from July 1996 until the December 2007. The Mission become preeminent international organization in Croatia after the ...

began there on 18 April 1996, with Croatia being admitted to OSCE on March 24, 1992.''OSCE Mission to Croatia'' retrieved fro
here
on May 19, 2007

Police powers

Police officers' powers in order to maintain peace in Croatia, such as the power to stop and search, seize property and use force, are regulated. A police officer in Croatia may only stop and search a person if a court has issued a warrant and it is possible that this person has broken the law or is in possession of items or tools which are considered unlawful. A police officer is only allowed to use firearms if there is an immediate threat to his own life or the lives of other people, to prevent a crime from being committed for which the minimum prison sentence is five years or more, or to prevent the escape of a prisoner caught committing an offence for which the prison sentence is a maximum of ten years.''Police, Croatia'' retrieved fro
here
on May 19, 2007

Organization

The General Police Directorate ( hr, Ravnateljstvo policije) is an administrative organization of the Ministry of the Interior constituted for conducting police affairs. The General Police Directorate is responsible for: * screening and analysis of the state of security and developments leading to the emergence and development of crime; * harmonization, guidance and supervision over the work of Police Directorates and Police Administrations; * immediate participation in particular more complex operations of Police Directorates and Police Administrations; * providing for the implementation of the international agreements on police cooperation and other international acts under the competence of the General Police Directorate; * organizing and conducting of criminal forensics operations; * setting the prerequisites for the efficient work of the Police Academy; * adopting of standards for the equipment and technical means; * setting the prerequisites for the police readiness to act in the state of emergency. General Police Directorate is headed by General Police Director ( hr, glavni ravnatelj policije). There are the following organization forms within General Police Directorate: * Police Directorate (''Uprava policije'') * Criminal Police Directorate (''Uprava kriminalističke policije'') * Border Police Directorate (''Uprava za granicu'') * Command of Special Police (''Zapovjedništvo specijalne policije'') * Operational Communication Centre (''Operativno–komunikacijski centar policije'') * Forensic Centre (''Centar za kriminalistička vještačenja'') * Police Academy (''Policijska akademija'') * Special Security Affairs Directorate (''Uprava za posebne poslove sigurnosti'') For immediate conducting of police affairs there are 20 Police Administrations (''policijske uprave'') divided into four categories, which cover the territory of the Republic of Croatia according to the organization of units of local self-government (

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

or ''županije''). Police stations are established for direct police and other affairs in each Police Administration.

Border control

Croatia has had an external border with the

Schengen area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

since the accession of the country to the EU. As part of the major migration movements from 2015, Croatia became part of the so-called

Balkan route The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

. The European Border Agency Frontex has a small mission in Croatia to assist the police at various border crossings. In July 2018 Frontex organized the air reconnaissance of the border with Bosnia with a reconnaissance aircraft as part of the Frontex 'Multipurpose Aerial Surveillance (MAS). The aircraft transmit moving images of remote sensing cameras in real time to the Frontex Situation Center (FSC) in Warszawa.

Critics

For several times NGOs report, that the Croatian police illegally and arbitrarily deport refugees to

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, ie from the EU ( push-backs). It would come again and again to attacks by the Croatian officials to the refugees.

Ranks

Regular Police (''Temeljna policija'')

Intervention Police (''Interventna policija'')

Hrvatska policija papa Benedikt XVI 04052011 2

Special Police (''Specijalna policija'')

Weapons

MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

UZI The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of t ...

Uses Copy of the Mini-Uzi variant manufactured as Mini ERO * G36C *

CZ75 The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Czech firearm manufacturer ČZUB. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original " wonder nines" and features a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. It ...

HS2000 The HS2000 (''Hrvatski Samokres'', ) is a series of semi-automatic pistols. Polymer-framed and striker-fired, the series is manufactured by HS Produkt (formerly I.M. Metal) in Karlovac, Croatia. In Europe, the pistols are marketed as the HS and ...

H&K UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the MP5, thou ...

* H&K MP7 * H&K 417

Equipment

Since 2013, there were special efforts by the Ministry of the Interior to equip the Croatian police with new vehicles and uniforms. Police cars consist mainly of mostly

Škoda Octavia The Škoda Octavia is a small family car produced by the Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto since the end of 1996. It shares its name with an earlier model produced between 1959 and 1971. Four generations of the modern-era Octavia model have ...

s, 4-door

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kad ...

s, some

Citroën C-Elysée Citroën C-Elysée is a subcompact (B-segment) sedan produced by the French manufacturer Citroën since 2012, introduced at the Paris Motor Show the same year. It is closely related to the Peugeot 301, launched the same year. It was facelifted ...

s and, more prominently,

Ford Focus The Ford Focus is a compact car ( C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...

es (unmarked sedans and marked estates). File:Croatian police car (02).JPG, Škoda Octavia police car File:Croatian police motorcycle (3).jpg, A motor officer patrolling in Zagreb on a motorcycle File:Policijski vodeni top CVT-6000.JPG, Water cannon model CVT-6000 File:Croatia police van (04).JPG,

Mercedes-Benz Vito The Mercedes-Benz Vito is a mid-sized light commercial vehicle (LCV) produced by Mercedes-Benz, available as a panel van, chassis cab, or multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), carrying cargo or up to eight passengers. In the Mercedes-Benz van lineup, it i ...

police van File:Trsat P 206 130610 1.jp
Cantiere Navale Vittoria V-800HR
police boat

Helicopters

Croatian police Augusta Bell 212.jpg,

Agusta-Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...

Croatian police helicopter Bell 206 B.jpg,

Bell 206B The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progr ...

-3 JetRanger III Croatian Police Helicopter.jpg,

JetRanger II

Controversies

According to human rights organizations, Croatian police has been accused of overt and, generally unpunished, brutality. Amnesty international has issued a detailed report on the allegations of torture of refugees and migrants, while the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

has criticized the organization impunity of violence and unlawful pushbacks at their borders. In 2021, the Border Violence Monitoring Network published a report into the use of torture and inhuman treatment during pushbacks by Croatian police. They assert that: * 87% of pushbacks carried out by Croatian authorities contained one or more forms of violence and abuse that we assert amounts to torture or inhuman treatment * Unmuzzled police dogs were encouraged by Croatian officers to attack people who were detained * Croatian officers forcibly undressed people, setting fire to their clothes and pushed them back across international borders in a complete state of undress

Notes

External links

Police / Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia
{{Police