The increase of the operational potency of the Police of the Czech Republic is conditioned by the level of the material equipment, the level of given operating funds a the number of qualified policemen. The material equipment represents mainly the provision with necessary technical means for the combat criminality on the respective level. The abundance of operating and wage funds creates the basic area for the police units operation. However, the fulfilment of these conditions puts heavy demands on budget sources.
Measures of economy in the sphere of financing brought the Police of the Czech Republic on the edge of the functionality. The lack of financial funds is seen in overlasting of fundamental problems in the work of the Police of the Czech Republic and then also in priorities of the basic direction of the work of the Police of the Czech Republic. In spite of that the Police of the Czech Republic succeeded to increase the clarification of crimes disregarding the growing number of them, to ensure the security of the road traffic, to secure the public order and to discharge other tasks, which are determined by the law.
8.1.1. External Priorities (Aiming at the Public)
Task No. 1
To increase the confidence of inhabitants in the Police of the Czech Republic and mainly its image
a) by the adequate and obliging behaviour of policemen to injured persons and other citizens,
b) by the timely arrivals and professional actions in the place of crime,
c) by the appropriate presentation of its tasks and results of operations in mass media.
ad a) Policemen are permanently guided to the adequate and obliging behaviour to injured persons and other citizens as well by the consistent control from the part of superiors. Policemen are instructed about the course of the duty as such as well as how to officiate during the contacts with citizens, before the beginning of the usual service performance. Principles of the decent, however, decisive behaviour are impressed upon them constantly. The decrease of the number of justified claims on policemen in 1997 testifies to the slight improvement in policemen behaviour to citizens.
ad b) Timely arrivals to the place of the crime are conditioned by many circumstances. Mainly the great burden of work of police bodies, a lot of vacancies, the condition and the level of the materially-technical equipment of units reveal negatively. Therefore it depends also on the numerousness of announced cases, however police patrols are sent to the place of crime on the basis of the assessment of the urgency of announced cases. The professional performance of operations depends mainly on professional knowledge and practical experience of policemen. The pressure is imposed on the increase of the policemen legal consciousness from the part of their superiors in all departments, however the gain of professional habits is a long-term matter. Citizens judge the police work especially according to their personal experience during the contact with policemen. They assess their grooming, their way of behaviour, ability of expression and mainly their capability to advise a citizen in complicated personal situations. The management of the Police of the Czech Republic pays the permanent attention to these questions.
ad c) The profoundation of citizens confidence in the Police of the Czech Republic is closely connected with the presentation of its activities in mass media. The improvement of the work of press agents and policemen in charge of the contact with the public in this field was notable. Mass media are used for the presentation of the work of policemen, but also for the preventative effection on citizens in order to protect their health and property.
Task No. 2
To act consistently against the indiscipline in transportation and in course of providing of the smoothness and security of the road traffic
The Traffic Police organised the national-wide and regional security transportation actions in order to influence the negative state of traffic accidents within the Czech Republic. Common actions with the Criminal Police and Public Order Police have been initiated successfully. Policemen pay from now on the great attention to preventatively-educational activities. They organise lectures at schools, discussions with drivers of motor vehicles, publish articles in the press and make contributions to the radio and television broad-casting.
Task No. 3
To act resolutely against the racist intolerance and extremist appearance.
The problems of an extremism were charged into the direction and co-ordination of the Criminal Police of the Czech Republic, where the specialised working group was established, which gains and assesses information from the whole republic and keeps appropriate records on this criminal activity and methodologically manages territorial units of the Criminal Police Service in this sphere. Respective measures for the securing of peace and public order are accepted on the basis of the information assessment.
The Police of the Czech Republic pays the permanent attention to expressions of the racist intolerance and extremist appearances. In 1997 the Police of the Czech Republic acted in the fight against offenders of crimes with the racist allusion and extremist appearance in accordance with the law and discharged the tasks in this area in accordance with the obligatory instruction of the police president, which determined the police procedure when securing the protection of the public order in cases of its mass breaking and during the commitment of the criminality with racist or national motives.
8.1.2. Internal Priorities (Aiming at the Police of the Czech Republic)
Task No. 4
To create the system of the personnel stabilisation of the Police of the Czech Republic and to care about the professional service performance of the high quality.
The system of the personnel stabilisation of the Police of the Czech Republic was not successfully established in the above mentioned sense, in spite of all and every accepted measures. Especially measures in the recruitment sphere were determined to the stabilisation (the mass media recruitment campaign, the co-operation with schools and labour offices), the motivation of applicants for the employment with the Police of the Czech Republic was in the capital of Prague and in some districts of the Central Bohemia (where the situation is the most oppressive) reinforced by the approval of the special unrepeated financial contribution.
Task No. 5
To increase the legal consciousness and the level of the psychic resistance of policemen during their service performance.
The permanent attention has been paid to questions of the increase of the legal consciousness of policemen. It is charged to all units by the order of the police president to acquaint all policemen with legal rules necessary for the service performance once a month. The level of knowledge of legal instructions is regularly checked by means of worked out examination tests. The individual education approach for young policemen, who enter the service with various units after finishing the basic professional preparation, has been applied. Further education of policemen will be the part of the prepared Conception of Comprehensive System of the Further Education in the Department of the Ministry of Interior, which will be presented by the Personal Division of the Ministry of Interior in 1998.
Task No. 6
To improve the level of the technical equipment in the field of the information science, computer technique, data transmission and radio connection.
In 1997 the effective server Hewlett-Packard was installed and put into operation. It will serve for the operation of the police central database. Information needs in the national-wide extent are satisfied by the building of the Information Police Centre.
The program OSOBA = PERSON was finished and improved. This program enables authorised and explicitly identified policemen to examine a lot of registered resources of the police, where the person is the object of the record.
Task No. 7
To ensure prefentially the completion of numbers of employees of the Police of the Czech Republic - Administration of the Capital of Prague and to equip these units with the necessary technique, after the completion of numbers of employees to establish another local units of the Police of the Czech Republic according to needs of territories.
The completion of numbers of employees of the Police of the Czech Republic was solved by the reorganisation of the Police of the Czech Republic, which was prepared till the end of 1997 and its realisation is supposed to be at the first half of 1998. Reserves, which arose during the reorganisation mainly by the cancellation of the line management of the Railway Police, are prepared for the reinforcement of numbers of employees of the Administration of the Capital of Prague especially operating units.
Task No. 8
To revalue the operation performance of the Public Order Police and Traffic Police of the Czech Republic with the aim to suggest solutions leading to the reinforcement of the guard and beat activity.
The task follows the previous task No. 7 and it will be necessary to be further concerned with these problems efficiently in 1998. The reinforcement of the patrol service, as the important security feature from the prevention and criminality decrease standpoints, is directly dependent on the creation of personnel conditions and further circumstances. The problems of car thefts and thefts of objects from cars are priorities.
8.2. Priorities of Basic Aims of the Work of the Police of the Czech Republic in 1998
The Ministry of Interior and the Police of the Czech Republic confirm priorities of basic aims of the Police of the Czech Republic from 1997 also for 1998. The definition of priorities from 1997 resulted from the necessity to solve fundamental problems, in the settlement of which is necessary to continue.
The Ministry of Interior and the Police of the Czech Republic propose to extend the task No. 1 "To increase the confidence of inhabitants in the Police of the Czech Republic" of the letter d) by the consistent fight against corruption. The task No. 7 "To ensure preferentially the completion of numbers of employees of the Police of the Czech Republic - Administration of the Capital of Prague and to equip these units with the necesary technique, after the completion of numbers of employees to establish another local units of the Police of the Czech Republic according to needs of territories" will concern in 1998 also the Regional Administration of the Central Bohemia and Northern Bohemia.