The government on Thursday endorsed the reorganisation of the Interior Ministry based on which the number of leadership positions in the General Police Directorate, police departments and stations will be cut by 638 and the number of divisions by 115.

At today’s meeting, the government amended a decree on the internal structure of the Interior Ministry in order to reorganise the police in a functional way.

Security challenges are increasingly complex and demanding due to new types of crime, which require the police to constantly adapt, Minister Davor Bozinovic said.

Murders and robberies down, organised crime up

According to preliminary indicators for 2021, murders were down by 16.7% on the year and all were solved, robberies were down by 10.2% and grand theft by 13.6%, he said. On the other hand, organised crime was up by 11.6% and human trafficking by 37.1%.

He said 889 traffickers were arrested, almost 200 more than the year before, 69.5% more corruption crimes were reported, and 100 criminal complaints were filed for war crimes, 100% more than in 2020.

Speaking of drug seizures, Bozinovic mentioned 1.1 tonnes of marijuana, 745 kilos of cocaine, 257 kilos of heroin and 367 kilos of synthetic drugs. He congratulated the Dubrovnik police on the seizure of more than 60 kilos of cocaine and 220 kilos of heroin.

“In order to keep and improve such results, we must be aware that only an adaptable system can deal with the challenges of the future, so our intention is for police organisation to follow the real security needs of local communities.”

More people at operational level, fewer in administration

The reorganisation focuses on increasing police operation at all levels, higher visibility in the streets, more people in operations and less in administration, the minister said.

He said this was the first integral reorganisation of the General Police Directorate before Croatia joins the Schengen Area.

An important part of the reorganisation is increasing the efficacy of special and riot police in high risk crises such as terror threats, hostage situations and migration crises, Bozinovic said.

The minister said the reorganisation did not mean that citizens would lose any of the services they had had until now and that there would be no new hiring, as a result of which 1.6 million kuna would be saved.