Czech Republic

The Czech Republic Police

The Czech Republic Police was created in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The police is an armed security force with an authorized strength of 46,816 police officers (a ratio of 1 for every 217 inhabitants) and 11,297 civilian employees. Its main task is to protect persons and property.

In addition to the state police agency, municipal police operate in municipalities all over the Czech Republic. These municipal forces have limited power and are directly responsible to municipal authorities. In principle the municipal police are responsible for safety and order in the municipality.

Structure and Organization

The Czech Republic Police operate under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. The head of the police is the Police President, accountable to the Minister of the Interior. The police consist of the Police Board of the Czech Republic and units with territorially delimited activities. The Czech police force has the following general divisions:

• Disciplinary Unit
• Criminal Unit
• Traffic Unit
• Administrative Unit
• Security Guards Unit
• Unit for Fighting Corruption and Serious Economic Crimes
• Foreign and Border Unit
• Swat Unit
• Railway and Air Units

The following units fall under the authority of the Police Board: Prevention and Information Department, Control and Complaint Department, Central Purchase Department, Human Resources Department, Systemic Management and Informatics Department, Castle Guard and the Czech Police Orchestra Department, Security Department, Department of International Police Cooperation, Directorate of the Disciplinary Unit, Directorate of the Traffic Unit, Directorate of Railway Unit, Directorate of Administrative Unit, Canine and Equine Division, Division of Special Scuba Diving activities and training.

Operational divisions on the national level include Alien and Border Service, SWAT Unit, the National Anti-Drug Headquarters, the Division of Organized Crime Detection, Division of Corruption and Serious Financial Criminality Detection, Division of Special Activities, Division of Particular Activities, Division of Protection of Constitutional Actors, Division of President Protection, Criminology Institute, and the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism.

Among territorially delimited divisions there are regional divisions, as well as city and district divisions.

Accountability

Fighting criminal behavior among Czech police officers is controlled through special units. The Inspectorate of the Minister of Interior is directly responsible to the Minister of Interior. The main task of this unit is to investigate and detect criminal behavior of police officers and to punish perpetrators. Although this unit is ostensibly independent from the police, it is staffed by police officers. Between 1993 and 2001, the number of resolved cases of criminal conduct rose from 376 to 665 (the number dropped to 453 in 2002). The number of charged officers likewise rose from 288 in 1993 to 468 in 2001 (444 in 2002).

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