Citizens Concerned About Public Security

Among the actions that are being described as threatening public security in Kosovo are thefts, wandering dogs, increasing cases of violence in educational institutions, as well as continued violations of the Law on Communication that end with accidents, whether fatally or hurt people.

Within just a month in Kosovo, 17 people have lost their lives in traffic accidents.

The perceptions of citizens surveyed by Radio Europe Free to Public Security are different. Some say they feel safe in the neighborhoods where they live, but there are many of them, who say public security in Kosovo is not at the desired level.

Berat Shala, a citizen, says he doesn't feel very secure in the neighborhood he lives in. He says it's a lot of things that threaten the safety of the neighborhood.

“We have security problems, it's not at the right level, then there's no police movement in this neighborhood, there's house breaks, we have problems with neighborhood dwellers, we have problems with stray dogs, and many such problems that make us feel insecure”, he says.

Citizens express their concerns that there are no police presence on the street, which creates a tolerant environment for injustice and crimes of various kinds.

The security situation in our neighborhood is quiet and stable, yet the neighborhood police need to be more present because of the car thefts that occur and other” actions, says Hasan Gashi, citizen.

Meanwhile, Blerta Kelmendi resident of the neighbourhood “Sun Coda” in Pristina says that in the absence of public enlightenment, the level of security leaves much to be desired.

The main problem with us is the security issue, where, as a result of the lack of public enlightenment, which is one important thing, we've encountered constant difficulties and problems, it's worth mentioning apartment breaks, a tendency to spread hooliganism, another problem is stray dogs that make the flow of people on foot”, she says.

However, rule authorities estimate that the security situation in Kosovo remains stable.

Kosovo police are in place of the second phase of strategy and community police action plan 2017-2021.

This strategy has spread throughout Kosovo's entire territory, in all municipalities and areas of Kosovo.

Kosovo Police spokesman Daut Hoxha tells Radio Free Europe that they are present in the community and that through various forms, such as police patrols and other forms, which have to do with advancing public safety.

Kosovo's “Police, since its establishment, in co-operation and partnership with international organisations dealing with security elements, have drafted and implemented strategies and projects aimed at advancing services for the community”.

“The neighborhood police project implemented in the past was a temporary project, before the Community Policy Strategy and Action Plan 2012-2017 is adopted and replaced with the patrol sector and patrol sector officials” are approved and implemented, Hoxha informs.

Kosovo police say they have community contacts with the citizen, which, according to Hoxha, has enabled credibility to be established and increased. This form, according to him, has produced good results in preventing crime in various areas of various kinds of crime.

“These forms and methods of co-operation, which are known as forms of democratic co-operation with the community, have increased community co-operation, and have also helped to address security and social well-being problems through various forms of co-operation”, Hoxha says.

Experts Seek Further Community Police Control

A study by the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies published last year had noted that on average 40 percent of the residents had claimed that they felt safe, another 40 percent felt neither secure nor insecure, since 20 percent felt insecure in Kosovo.

According to experts, the threat of public security from various crimes increases the need for increased police control in the community.

The expert on security issues from the SPRC Security Policy Research Centre, Burim Ramadani, told Radio Free Europe that in order to combat various crimes, concrete steps should be taken in dealing with public safety in the country.

Public security must begin to be addressed through co-operation between the central level, municipal level, police, neighbourhoods and community. The full and successful implementation of police in the community, the approach of police official to the neighbourhood, is imperative to function, respectively, what is called neighborhood police. Of course, it needs to be invested in setting up cameras, increasing co-operation between the community, local institutions and the Kosovo Police”, Ramadani emphasises.

Public security in Kosovo, in addition, by security experts, was stressed that it is being threatened by illegal weapons.

Kosovo institutions have no precise figures for the number of illegal weapons, which may be in the hands of citizens.

There are only some 2008 data of international organisations, where the number of illegal weapons in Kosovo was said to total 300 thousand.

Police records show that an average of 1,500 illegal weapons are seized annually.

Burim Ramadani estimates that in order to increase the level of public safety, the removal of these illegal weapons from the hands of citizens, combating narcotics, as he says, narcotics in many cases becomes the main motive of theft, robbery, or even physical assault.

“The public security trend is not improving. Public enlightenment must be made in order to increase public security. These elements are the least to be done and can be done to increase safety in public communities, including safety in road communications, where Kosovo this year has scored record traffic accidents”, Ramadani said.

According to Kosovo Police data, 15 cases of murder have been recorded in Kosovo this year alone.

Until weeks earlier under circumstances still unexplained by the authorities in the order, a capital neighbourhood had been found shot down by a 16-year-old firearm.