4.5 Mission to Serbia
Regarding European integration, the MoI finalized an Action Plan for Chapter 24, which now
includes all previously developed strategic documents. The MoI initiated an in-depth reform
process of the MoI and police. In the process of revising police legislation, the MoI held
consultations with the wider civil society and international community through a number of
public debates and analysis requests, and finalized the drafting of the new Law on Police by
the end of 2015.
The Serbian Government’s adoption of the Action Plan for the Community Policing Strategy
in mid-2015 represented a turning point for strategy implementation at the national level. The
plan identifies four key aspects of the community policing concept: a preventive approach,
problem-oriented policing, working with minorities and socially vulnerable groups, and
promoting police-public partnerships through Municipal Safety Councils (MSC). Community
policing was stated as one of four top MoI reform priorities for the period 2015-2018. The
Mission, together with the MoI and Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM),
developed a standardized MSC model and launched it officially in late 2015.
In the area of combating organized crime, the MoI conducted its first in-depth SOCTA and
published it in late 2015. It will be used for further strategic planning and resource allocation in
the MoI. An inter-ministerial working group was established to develop a strategy and action
plan for fighting terrorism and violent extremism, which is expected to be adopted in 2016. A
governmental inter-agency working group performed considerable preparatory work for the
creation of a centralized criminal intelligence system, which will allow for a swift exchange
of information and evidence among state institutions. The implementation of a new case
management and analysis system in the Prosecution Office for Organized Crime continued
towards completion. Ten police officers became the first public servants to be certified as
economic crime forensic experts, thus contributing to the implementation of the Financial
Investigation Strategy. The MoI developed a curriculum for economic crime investigators
and integrated it in its specialized training. Also, the MoI inaugurated the Specialized Training
Centre for dismantling illicit drugs laboratories in Mitrovo Polje.
Activities Related to
General Police Development
and Reform
Police Development and
Reform within Security Sector Reform
In January and February, the Mission supported the
continuation of 36 discussions between the police and
the prosecution to enhance their capacity to combat
transnational, organized and other forms of serious crime,
and to improve co-operation within the framework of the
new Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). The purpose of this
activity was to support the police and the prosecution in
developing a tool to advance necessary structural changes for
effective prosecutor-led investigations. Overall, the Mission
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organized discussions for 11 out of 36 groups of officers,
each comprising of 25 to 30 criminal investigators from their
respective police districts, and approximately 10 basic and
higher district prosecutors. Following in-depth consultations
with all relevant stakeholders, the Mission, together with the
MoI and the State Public Prosecutor’s Office, presented the
“Report on Joint Initiatives” on 17 November. The report is a
summary of the main findings of the 36 roundtables.
From 26 March-16 April, the Mission supported the logistical
aspects of organizing three public debates on the draft Law
on Police and the draft Law on Records and Personal Data
Processing. Specifically, the draft Law on Police sets out to
introduce changes regarding criminal investigations, internal
control and human resources management. The draft Law
on Records and Personal Data Processing regulates police
records. The MoI convened the first public debate on 26 March
in the Novi Sad Police District, the second on 30 March in the
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