1.5 The visits to police stations Complaint procedures The complaint procedures of PSs vary. Almost all PSs keep a comments and complaints book, stored with the duty officer and the majority of PSs also have letter boxes available to detained person to anonymously submit a comment/complaint. This may also be used by foreign nationals, who are not informed on Slovenian regulations on making complaints about the work of public officials (assuming the letter box is appropriately labelled in other languages). It is noteworthy that in Ljubljana Bežigrad PS, where it was found that on the bottom of the page of the comments and complaints book there was always a postscriptum of a chief of the PS on what happened with an individual note (comment or complaint), e.g. that a response was sent to the person who filed a note, or in case of a complaint, that the latter was referred to the Police Directorate. The NPM welcomed such monitoring of entries in the comments and complaints book by the chiefs of the PSs and proposed that such practice be continued in the future. Ljubljana Police Detention Centre should also be commended, since there is a paper box in the corridor with pens and papers, which enables the submission of eventual complaints. When visiting Brežice PS, the NPM found that the anonymous comments and complaints box is still not available in the PS, and proposed that the box be installed in its quarters. The Ministry of the Interior informed the NPM that the box for anonymous submissions of comments and complaints of the citizens was installed in the lobby with the duty police officer. In Radlje ob Dravi PS the comments and complaints book was not placed in a visible position and was located in the room with the duty officer during the visit, furthermore, there is no box for anonymous submissions of comments and complaints in the PS, therefore the NPM established that the recommendation from the previous visit was not considered with regard to this and once again proposed that the comments and complaints book be placed in a visible position and to examine possibilities of installing a box for anonymous comments and complaints. With regard to this, the Ministry of the Interior informed the NPM that the comments and complaints book was placed in a visible position (behind the glass wall, which separated the duty officer and visitors) and stated that the possibility of installing the box will be examined. The NPM commended the Dravograd PS, as it followed the recommendation of the NPM from the previous visit and produced a box from a cardboard box for anonymous submissions of eventual comments and complaints, which was placed in a corridor outside the duty officer’s room. Access to police stations for the disabled and parking space for clients, including the disabled All the PSs have suitable and organized access for the disabled (a lift for the disabled or at least a bell which enables a disabled person to warn a duty police officer of their arrival) and toilets for the disabled which enables the PS to also detain persons with disabilities. Notwithstanding, in Kranjska Gora PS, Slovenska Bistrica PS, Laško PS and Radlje ob Dravi PS the access for the disabled was not provided, which is why it was proposed by the NPM that the possibilities of at least installing a bell, which would enable the disabled persons to warn a duty police officer of their arrival, be examined. With regard to Kranjska Gora PS, The Ministry of the Interior informed the NPM that the PS will examine the possibility of arranging access for the disabled in the context of the major maintenance activities, whereas the bell for the disabled to warn the duty officer is already installed. With regard to Slovenska Bistrica PS and Laško PS, the Ministry of the Interior informed the NPM that the possibility of installing a bell with an audio device, which would enable for the disabled to notify the duty officer, will be examined; with regard to Radlje ob Dravi PS that the Police Directorate Celje will provide for the installation of the bell with an audio device. However, the NPM commended the Ljubljana Bežigrad PS, as it was established that the PS (unlike from the previous visit) also has a wheelchair ramp. Working conditions for employees The NPM established that police officers from Laško PS conduct their work in poor working conditions, as the PS is located in a small apartment block built in 1973 and uses two floors (ground floor and first floor with the administration and commander’s offices). The officers use the ground floor rooms, where only four small offices are available, where they can perform their work. The PS can only provide changing rooms for a small number of police officers in this building and consequently most officers use changing rooms in a building across the yard (in the old PS quarters), which also includes a small meeting room where meetings are held. For this reason, the NPM proposed to examine the possibilities on improving working conditions of the employees of the PS as soon as possible. With regard to this, the Ministry of the Interior informed the NPM that activities are in place (searching location) to build a new PS building. It was also established in Slovenske Konjice PS that the space for clients in the duty room is separated from IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2013 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT 113