4.3 Mission in Kosovo
In 2016, the DSPS primarily provided strategic, capacity-building, advisory, monitoring
and technical support to its partners from the Kosovo Police (KP) and other public safety
institutions. It ran unified budget and extra budgetary project activities consisting of
specialized and advanced training courses, local and international conferences, seminars,
workshops and roundtables, focusing on building the capacities of the KP and other
public safety institutions to prevent and counter all forms of transnational threats. Such
activities encompassed organized crime, cybercrime, terrorism and violent extremism and
radicalization, trafficking in human beings, narcotics, and enhancement of community policing
and community safety infrastructure. The DSPS also continued to contribute to the drafting of
new strategies, and reviewing several existing ones in order to enhance the security sector.
The former Human Rights and Security Section of the Department of Human Rights and
Communities (DHRC) was transferred to the DSPS in 2016. Its staff and portfolio were
merged with that of the DSPS Training Development Section, which together formed the new
Police Development and Monitoring Section. The DSPS is now responsible for all matters
concerning the police, in addition to a limited field presence in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovicë/
Mitrovica North, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South, Pejë/Peć, and Prishtinë/Priština.
In its activities related to the advancement of community rights in Kosovo, the DHRC also
co-operates with the police and contributed to the report with several activities.
Activities Related to
General Police Development
and Reform
Police Monitoring and Confidence-Building
In 2016, the Mission continued to monitor programmes
and advise the police on issues such as preventing and
responding to hate crimes, freedom of expression, security
of non-majority communities and the use of force. The
findings and recommendations derived from these
monitoring exercises were discussed with KP management,
and contributed to identifying future initiatives to improve
the recording, investigating and monitoring of potential
hate crimes.
The Mission has also developed, implemented and monitored
the public confidence and satisfaction pilot programme
at the police station of Ferizaj/Uroševac during 2016. The
programme included training and advising the KP on
delivering an enhanced service, design and distribution of
the victim pack, and awareness raising material for the wider
public, victims and the KP officers.
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On 17 February, the Mission observed developments of
a protest organized by opposition political parties, which
gathered a significant number of protesters mainly opposed
to the Prishtinë/Priština-Belgrade agreement on establishing
the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and the
“Border Demarcation Agreement” with Montenegro. During
the protest, which ended peacefully, a heavy police presence
equipped with water cannons and armoured vehicles was
observed and no major incident was recorded. The general
observation was that the KP was well prepared and that
freedom of assembly and freedom of speech were respected.
Public confidence and satisfaction
programme
In its project to contribute to the development of a public
confidence and satisfaction programme to improve police
performance, on 23 March, the Mission facilitated a
workshop on this topic with 35 senior police officers in
Prishtinë/Priština. This event was the first step in a number
of linked project activities, which aimed to initially establish a
confidence and satisfaction working group. Its objective was
to expand the ability of the KP to deliver an improved level
of service to victims of crime, thus improving the public’s
level of satisfaction and increasing victims’ confidence in
the police service. The workshop served as a platform to
identify roles, responsibilities, timeframes and reporting
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