Security experts: Lack of Police warders, Major Concern

So reports Free Europe Radio A.B., a member of the Kosovo Police.

His full name is known for editing, but he himself does not want to be identified in which type he is part.

His colleagues, even from the special unit, also say they operate with expired wards as known as bulletproof vests.

Their superiors confirm that some have expired and that they are waiting for young people.

“At the moment, all members of the Kosovo Police are equipped with anti-plumb vests, but a limited number of them are old-term, which, according to the ongoing projects, is expected to be replaced”, the Kosovo Police Media Office says in a statement to Radio Free Europe, but does not specify what the total number of non-commissionors is indefinitely.

Security affairs experts say bulletproof vests have deadlines of between five and ten years, depending on the company that produces them.

Nuredin Ibishi explains that they have ceramic or metal plate” and “r created of synthetic fibers”, which serve as protection, but that, when the deadline is over, is not effective.

Each vest has a “expiration deadline inside it, he says.

The procedure for the purchase of banners and other equipment for the Kosovo Police passes through Procuring Organisation (OSHP). This body, for more than a year, has not been functional, while last Thursday, the Kosovo Assembly has voted for its new composition.

Security experts: Lack of warders, Unacceptable

Former Kosovo Police Director Rashit Qalaj says the lack of effective partners is “following mismanagement”. That, according to him, should be a major concern for police leaders and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“It is unacceptable and illegal for police to come out on the street with expired bulletproof vest... It is very bad for the person who knowingly allows the policeman to take to the street with an expired vest on anti-plumb”, says Qalaj, currently deputy of the Kosovo Assembly from the opposition ranks.

To avoid such shortages, Qalaj says orders have had to be made on time.

Likewise, says Ramadan Qehaja, an expert on military and security issues. He says such shortages “can also affect the Kosovo Police's operational readiness”.

This is very disturbing. There's got to be another modus, so they don't have to be expected... Police were supposed to specifically make their own” supply, says Qehaja.

Officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs have told Radio Free Europe that they are aware of the lack of police equipment, but are awaiting actions by the Procuring Organisation.

The REL has contacted the Procuring Organisation on 24 June, and officials there have said the work of the new board will be launched this week.

Facing danger with open chest, Kosovo police officers still without bulletproof

Union: Even uniforms, shoes...

Kosovo police comprise over 9,000 members of different degrees.

By 1999, when even this institution was formed, 21 police officers have lost their lives during the conduct of official office in various operations, confirmed by the Kosovo Police Union.

Chairman Imer Zeqiri says that, from the data the union holds, about 50% of the anti-plumb vests the police currently have, are over-term.

I'm a police officer and my vest is out of time... Of course, he has been two or three years out of”, he says.

In addition to the partners, Zeqiri adds, there are also lack of uniforms and shoes.

This case is not normal, because the state is taking pride in shares and police work and, on the other hand, does not do security properly. Security of the bulletproof vest by” is required, Zeqiri says.

In the absence of new uniforms involving shirts, pants, jackets and tiers many policemen decide to repair or color them.

Miftari's faith is the owner of a store in the town of Vushtrri, which deals with cleaning, repairing, and dyeing clothing.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, he shows that several of his clients are police officers from different Kosovo cities.

They bring them because they can't provide new [uniforms]. They bring them back and renew them. I can't say I make them new, but for a certain time, they push. Within the month I have more than five or six [police] uniforms that I dye”, Mifatri says.

The gross salary of a lower-class police official in Kosovo is 496 euros, while a police official estimated to face higher risk is 606 euros. The salary increases gradually on the basis of work experience.

Kosovo police, like firefighters, work without state health insurance.

On the other hand, Kosovo Police are one of the most reliable institutions in the country in terms of providing security, various opinion polls show.