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Interior Minister Carmen Dan considers that police procedures need to be rendered transparent and police officers to have their authority restored, mentioning that a relevant bill to make internal procedures known to the population is in the pipeline. "We must render police procedures transparent - and we'll do this, as we already have a bill that will soon be tabled to the government. I hope we see it adopted next week. Too many times have we been witnessing questionable police interventions or over-the-top reactions of the citizens. By regulating the main interactions between the police officer and the citizen we will clarify the rights and obligations of each party," Carmen Dan said on Friday as she attended the 2017 stocktaking meeting of the Romanian Police Inspectorate General (IGPR).
The Interior Minister said that this would spare police of "being the target of more or less objective opinions from the public space," because it would be unfair for the mistakes of particular individuals to cast a shadow on the entire institution.
"The authority of the policeman must be restored, and you need a consistent legal framework, clear action procedures and a high level of tactical and physical training. We must communicate more effectively among us and enhance communication with the citizens and the community, because above all, the police is a public service. This last aspect has often been ignored, because we thought only of us, without looking at the citizens' expectations," said Carmen Dan.
The Interior Minister added that all of these goals are listed in the new assessment report completed by the new Police management and that a consistent plan of action is needed to achieve them.
Carmen Dan also spoke about reorganizing the police work schedule, as they are required to respect working hours, but the free time needed to recover after duty must also stay unaffected.
The Minister of the Interior thanked trade union and professional organization representatives for "having understood that certain goals are above individual or organizational interests."
She also said that a strategy is underway at the Ministry of Interior to reduce staff shortage by recruiting new human resources and that 6,000 people have been hired in 2017 and almost 7,000 will follow in 2018.
