Bulgaria:
Police in Transition (part 2)
2. Organization
2. 1. The
structure and staff of the police service
There are four different police services, according to their functions. The
major police service, the National Service Police, has 27 regional departments,
integrated into the 27 Regional Directorates of the Ministry of the Interior.
In addition, there is a Military Police within the Ministry of Defense.
The National Service Police, the major policing agency, is charged with detecting and preventing crime and maintaining public order. The NSP is also in charge of the control of motorway traffic. The National Service on Organized Crime has the task of counteracting organized crime. Certain law enforcement functions have also been attributed to the National Service Border Police, charged with protecting the borders, maintaining public order and preventing crime within the border zone. Lastly, the National Service Gendarme has law enforcement functions with respect to the protection of places and premises of „strategic" importance, and fighting terrorist and subversive groups. The Gendarme Service has also the task of maintaining public order and preventing and detecting crime outside residential and industrial zones. Besides the four policing agencies within the Ministry of the Interior, there is also a Military Police, which has typical police functions, though it has limited jurisdiction over the staff of the army only.
By necessity, any description of the structure of the Police will have to start with a description of the overall structure of the Ministry of the Interior, as they are practically inseparable.
Ministry of the Interior
In mid-November 1997, the Parliament voted a new Ministry of the Interior Act („MIAct"). This Act sets forth the structure, functions and agencies of the Ministry of the Interior, and the rights, duties and responsibilities of its personnel. The MIAct provides for national, central and territorial agencies of the Ministry of the Interior. The national agencies are the National Service Police, the National Security Service, and the Central Service on Organized Crime, while the territorial units, called Regional Directorates of the Interior, have units of the national/central agencies. The Directors of the national agencies, Police, Border Police, Gendarme and Organized Crime report to the Minister of the Interior.
Each national service has separate units within the territorial service, the Regional Directorates of the Interior. There are 27 Regional Directorates of the Interior, which are headed by Directors. The Regional Directors of the Interior report to the Minister of the Interior. As police personnel in the territorial units are part of both the respective regional service and the national service, this had created some complications in the chain of command. This issue of the line of subordination was somewhat incorrectly presented as a question of centralization/decentralization (See question II.2) in the public debate. After 1997, the powers of the national services leadership were substantially diminished, and the powers of the heads of the Regional Directorates of the Interior increased, thus establishing a clear chain of command.
The MIAct regulates in detail the different agencies within the Ministry of the Interior. With the exception of the National Security Service („NSS") and the Fire Service, all of them perform policing functions and have law enforcement powers. The NSS, which has no law enforcement powers, is charged with collecting information related to threats to national security, while the Fire Service is responsible for protecting the public from fires and other natural disasters.
National Service Police
The MIAct regulates the National Service Police, an agency of the Ministry of the Interior headed by the Director of National Police, who reports to the Minister of the Interior. According to the MIAct, the National Service Police is a law enforcement agency charged with crime detection and prevention and protection of public order. Protection of public order is very broadly construed by the relevant legislation and includes not only typical police tasks, but also general administrative activities. The NSP is the major policing agency and is under a duty to assist other government agencies in general law enforcement and to help victims of crime, other offenses and natural disasters.
National Service on Organized Crime („NSOC")
The NSOC is a policing agency subordinated to the Minister of the Interior with a more narrowly defined mission. It performs crime detection and prevention functions, and is charged with gathering information with respect to organized crime, terrorism, arms trade, trafficking in persons and drugs, money laundering, racketeering and corruption in the administration. The NSOC is headed by a Director and has regional units within the overall structure of the Ministry of the Interior.
National Service Border Police
The Border Police, as defined by the MIAct, is a specialized policing agency of the MI charged with the protection of the border and general law enforcement on the borders in airports, harbors and territorial waters. For this purpose, the Border Police should control the border traffic, and detect and investigate crime and other offenses within its jurisdiction.
The National Service Gendarme
The fourth police agency within the Ministry of the Interior, the Gendarme, has a specific territorial jurisdiction over the territory outside inhabited areas. The Gendarme will have the typical police functions of the NSP, with its distinct jurisdiction the only difference. The head of the Gendarme reports directly to the Minister of the Interior.
Military Police
There is also a specialized police force within the Ministry of Defense. This is the Military Police, which by law is part of the Bulgarian Army, but is charged with specific functions of criminal law enforcement. This is due to the peculiar system of separate military courts, and the prosecution and investigation of crimes committed by military personnel. Part of this „military" criminal law enforcement system is the Military Police, which has duties and authorities equivalent to the National Service Police, including typical police powers of searches, seizures, detention and the use of force and firearms, which in certain cases are not even limited to military personnel only. Its tasks, as described by the Regulation on Military Police, are the detection, prevention and investigation of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Military Prosecution.
The Ministry of the Interior has the power to create special police forces, as it has done, with the purpose of providing for the security of government property, including state-owned companies. For these units, the Ministry of the Interior hires additional personnel. One example is the Court Police, created with the purpose of protecting the buildings, witnesses and members of the judiciary, public order within such buildings and the escort of detainees to and from them. The creation of police forces subordinated to other agencies and institutions is prohibited by law.
There is no official data on the precise number of police personnel, as this figure is considered to be a state secret. According to unofficial information, the National Police consists of 65% of the total number of personnel of the Ministry of the Interior, thus amounting to approximately 75,000 people. Information on the other policing services is also state secret by law. Since the early 1990s, Governments have often announced plans for major cutbacks in the personnel of the Ministry of the Interior. The last significant reduction occurred in late 1997, where according to anecdotal evidence, up to one-third of the positions in some units had been cut. It had also been argued that such downsizing occurs at the expense of the administrative position, rather than the regular police officers. Precise numbers, however, were never released.
2. 1/a Budgetary
matters
There is no separate information on the funding of the Police. The only available
information is published in the State Budget Act, which gives a general figure
for the whole Ministry of the Interior. The planned funding allotments were
as follows: for 1994, 5 657 600 000 Levs, at that time approximately $152 908
108; 1995, 10 000 000 000 Levs, or approximately $ 151 515 000; 1996, 13 800
300 000 Levs, or $ 197 147 000; 1997, 163 714 232 000 Levs, or $ 102 476 000,
1998, 256 682 million Levs or $142 601 111; and for 1999, 334 282 000 Levs or
$197 444 736, approximately 6% of the total state budget. For the year 2000,
the planned budget of the Ministry of the Interior allocates 459 145 000 Levs,
or $ 241 655 263, representing approximately 8% of the total state budget. There
is no official data on how funding for the Ministry of the Interior is distributed
for what purposes. Such information is expressly specified as confidential and
details are not available.
Official statements of top executives of the MI have always indicated that funding for the Ministry is insufficient. There is a separate fund „Fight against Crime" created by law, which should provide the Ministry of the Interior with additional funding for its work. Private donations to the Fund raised objections as a possible legalization of institutional corruption. Thus, the Fund’s income comes from budget subsidies, services provided by the MI, income from state-owned companies run by the MI, license fees, ID cards and passport fees and large government businesses. Inadequate funding, however, remains a serious problem.
In 1993, seeking ways to support its staff, the Ministry of the Interior allowed police officers to perform off-duty work. In theory, this should have allowed police officers and sergeants to take a second, part-time job with another employer, thus making working for the Police more attractive. Though never the subject of public attention, one controversial issue questioned whether to permit Police employees to work off-duty as security guards, or to limit them to jobs unrelated to security. Because of serious concerns over unethical behavior and corruption, the ban on off-duty work was reintroduced less than a year after it was lifted.
To increase its funding, the Police provides security services to private parties on a contractual basis. These private security services are organized by the Regional Directorates of the MI and run by separate police units, which are staffed with regular police personnel. Thus the overall number of police personnel is increased to meet the needs for the contracted security work. The fact that the Police is hiring extra personnel, in addition to estimations of necessary police staff for the particular territory, makes it possible for the Police to argue that contractual security services do not interfere with their public law duties. Still, there remain some concerns as to the blending of public and private activities, where the Police acts as a security business striving for a bigger share of the market.
2. 2. Centralisation/decentralisation
of police powers and agencies
Historically, the Police was always a very centralized institution, as it is
presently, with the Minister of the Interior at the top of the hierarchy. There
is little interaction between the Police and the local authorities. Such interaction
is not based on some formal subordination of the Police to the local authorities,
but instead on the general duty of the Police to assist any Government agency
in the performance of their tasks, whenever they need such assistance.
Although there are different police services within the Ministry of the Interior, the overall structure of the Ministry and the subordination of the different services are built to create a highly centralized system. Three elements are detrimental to that final result. First, it is the duty of every police officer or sergeant to follow orders of his/her superior. Second, there is a clear line of subordination between all the services, which is strictly defined by law. Each service reports to the Director of the Service, and the Directors of Services report to the Minister of the Interior. Finally, the law provides for very wide powers of the Minister of the Interior to direct, instruct and make decisions on any issue related to the work of the Police. Of further importance for the high centralization in the Police is the power to appoint and dismiss police personnel, which for police officers lies with the Minister of the Interior, and for police sergeants with the respective director or head of unit. As a result, the system is to a large extent directly controlled and run from the top level with very little room for local decision making.
Throughout the 1990s, discussion has argued both in favor and against greater decentralization of the Police. Decentralization, however, was understood not as granting greater decision-making powers to the territorial Police units and local authorities, but as increasing the powers of the different police services at national level, like the National Service Police, at the expense of the powers of the Minister of the Interior. Paradoxically, decentralization in this context had come to mean giving more powers to the national services, and centralization as giving more powers to Regional Directorates of the Interior.
This paradox is explained by the fact that early in the 1990s, larger powers were granted to the national services, which weakened the control over the system of the Minister of the Interior and created separate parallel structures within the Police. Several notorious cases involving a lack of coordination between different police units, in one case ending with police officers shooting and killing other police officers, strengthened the argument to improve the chain of command and control within the Police. As a result, after 1997 the powers of the national services were diminished, shifted to the Regional Directorates of the Interior and in the end to the Minister of the Interior. These changes were presented as reintroducing centralization in the Police. In fact, the 1997 reform is better explained as an improvement in the line of command and the coordination between the different services and units. As to centralization, the system was and remains highly centralized, with little local input in policy making and much decision making at the top level of the Ministry of the Interior.
2. 3. The
division between criminal and general public safety functions
The functions of the different police services, and the rights and duties of
their personnel, are described by the relevant legislation without any reference
to the internal division of functions and duties. Thus, every police officer
or sergeant has the full spectrum of rights and responsibilities provided by
statutory law. Besides the distinctions between the different services, however,
executive legislation has established clear lines between different functions
of the Police.
The National Service Police, and all its regional units within the Regional Directorates of the Interior, are divided into several departments. In the smaller regional units, the distinction of functions and duties might be blurred to some extent, but as a rule, separate functions and duties are strictly observed.
There are two crime detection and investigation departments, defined in accordance with the type of crime with which they deal: the „Criminal Police" and the „Economic Police".
The „Criminal Police" is the major crime detection and prevention department, charged with crime prevention, detection and investigation, as well as with assisting investigators in cases where the Police does not have jurisdiction to investigate. There is a further separation of functions within the larger Criminal Police departments, according to the type of crime (homicide, crimes against property). Besides divisions along functional lines, personnel in the Police Units most often cover different territory within the Unit. Criminal Police are also charged with the detection of fugitives and their apprehension, and the detection of missing persons.
The „Economic Police", departments within the Service Police, is charged with the detection, prevention and investigation of economic crime (such as embezzlement, misappropriation and corruption). This separation of general from economic crime is justified by the different methods for the detection and investigation of economic crime, which requires the extensive use of information gathering, electronic surveillance and special knowledge in the particular sphere of economic activity. Further separation of the functions within the Economic Police is carried out according to types of economic activity, like tourism, construction and government administration.
The department of the Service Police charged with general public security functions is the „Security Police" Department, which is organizationally separate from the crime detection and investigation departments. The largest section of the Police, the Security Police are the uniformed police personnel who patrol the streets and guard government and other public buildings. Although there is a clear division in functions, as the first to encounter evidence of crime Security Police personnel also perform detection work.
Within the Police Service there are also other departments, like the Motor Vehicles Traffic Control, which registers motor vehicles, issues driving licenses and enforces traffic rules, and the Transport Police, which has security functions in the railways and other public transport. There are still other smaller police departments, with specific tasks.
2. 4. The
internal structure
Some of the police services, like the Border Police and the Gendarme Service,
are by statutory definition part of the armed forces of the country. Apart from
such legal definitions, the whole structure and ideology of the Police is „military"
in its character. Officers and sergeants have different ranks equivalent to
military ranks. In many respects, such as criminal and administrative law, as
well as discipline, training and retirement, police personnel are treated in
the same way as the military. Perhaps most important in this respect is the
requirement of unconditional obedience. According to the relevant provisions
of the Penal Code, equally applicable to military and police personnel, refusal
by a police officer or a sergeant to perform an order by a superior, or even
an open indication of disagreement with such an order, is a criminal offense
punishable by imprisonment.
In mid-1999, the Ministry of the Interior initiated amendments to the effective legislation, according to which the police personnel would be stripped of its army ranks. A highly sophisticated ranking system would still remain in place, however, using ranks different from the army. Allegedly proposed to de-militarize the Police, these amendments were later withdrawn by the Ministry of the Interior. Even if enacted, however, they would have not changed substantially the military character of the Police, to a large extent a consequence of the relatively little discretion allowed to rank and file police officers, and of an „army culture” within the Police, which places greater emphasis on subordination and group loyalty than on serving the public. A change of the „army culture” will have to start from developing different attitudes during training in police schools, promoting a more discussion-friendly environment and allowing lower ranks to exercise greater discretion in performing their job.
2. 5. The legal status of police officers
Legal literature considers police employees as civil servants, though they are a very distinct category of civil servants. Their legal status, rights and duties are regulated by special legislation, and none of the general laws applicable to civil servants are applied with respect to police personnel. Thus, defining police employees as civil servants has more to do with describing them as working for the government as opposed to the private sector, and not with attributing to them the same rights and duties as other civil servants. Legislation on the Police uses the term „agents" of the respective police services, to describe the officers, sergeants and non-employed police aides with the special powers granted by law to the Police such as the use of force, firearms and arrest powers.
Besides their special powers, the legal status of the police officer or sergeant differs from that of other civil servants because of the special rules on the employment, dismissal and promotion of police personnel. Police employees are also restricted as a matter of law in enjoying certain basic rights.
Police personnel are employed on the basis of a competition, with the head of the respective police unit announcing the exact terms and conditions. Layouts of police personnel are not subject to judicial review; only in the case of dismissal as a disciplinary punishment could a police employee address the court for his/her employment rights. This option is exercised in accordance with procedures and deadlines, differing completely from those applicable to other civil servants.
2. 6. The
main benefits and limitations based on the legal status of police officers
Police officers do not have special benefits or privileges by law. The only
privileges police personnel receive are the free use of public transport and
life and health insurance covered by the state budget.
Basic constitutional rights of police personnel are limited in the sphere of political activities. By law, they are not allowed to be members of political parties or to participate in any way in organized political activities. Among the more specific prohibitions is the prohibition of any form of political campaigning, particularly during elections. Police employees are also prohibited from taking other official positions with the Government as well as from undertaking any activities that might be incompatible with their work with the Ministry of the Interior. Among the explicitly prohibited activities are any business activities, including membership in company management and off-duty work, except for teaching and research. There are also strict requirements in respect to trade union membership, with police employees barred from any with a structure outside the Ministry of the Interior.
2. 7. Limitations
on police officers’ freedom of expression and privacy
Freedom of expression is among the other basic rights of individual members
of the Police that are subject to restrictions. Besides the obligation to not
reveal information that is considered state secret or confidential as a matter
of law, police personnel do not have the right to make public statements related
to their work. According to effective legislation, only the „Press Office"
of the Ministry of the Interior is authorized to provide information on behalf
of the Ministry. In addition, there are internal rules prohibiting any employee
of the Ministry of the Interior from addressing the public. Any request for
a public appearance, such as an interview with the media, should be filed with
the Press Office. Most often journalists file such requests. The individual
MI employee may make a public statement only after the head of the Press Office
clears such a public appearance. Otherwise, the release of work-related information
to the public, even when not confidential, constitutes a violation of discipline,
with the offending employee subject to penalty.
2. 8. Checking
the private conduct of police officers
The Police has the right to gather information and, to some extent, control
the private life of its employees. In the employment procedure, the applicant
provides detailed information about his medical history, current health status
and relatives. An extensive interview by a psychologist, covering personal history,
is also conducted. There is no express legal obligation requiring the Police
not to release such information. Prior to getting married, police employees
are required to file a report providing information on their prospective spouse,
who the Police would then check for crime-related activities. Section 66 1.
3. of the Ministry of the Interior Act provides the legal ground for controlling
private life. According to this provision, police officers or sergeants can
be dismissed if they are unable to perform their duties for health or „some
other reasons".
The 1997 Ministry of the Interior Act provided for a special procedure for police personnel under investigation on a suspicion of committing a crime. However, this special procedure was annulled as unconstitutional. According to Section 206 of the Act, no police officer or sergeant can be detained, and no investigation against him/her started, without the prior approval of the Minister of the Interior. No such prior approval is required where the police officer or sergeant was detained at the scene of the crime, after having committed a serious offense. This provision was challenged by the Chief Prosecutor as contrary to the Constitution, and in March 1998 the Constitutional Court repealed it on the ground that it violated the constitutional principle, granting investigative authority to the independent Investigation and Prosecution Offices.
2. 9. and
10. The police salary system and comparison of police salaries to salaries in
the public sector
The system of payment of the Police is set by law. Salaries are based on the
average income for civil servants as calculated by the National Statistics Institute.
Thus, sergeants receive as a minimum 1.3 of the average civil servant's monthly
salary and officers receive two times the average civil servant's monthly salary.
Officers and sergeants receive additional payment depending on their time in
office, 2% for every additional year and for special conditions of work. For
1997, the average civil servant’s salary was approximately 80 000 Levs ($50),
making the salary of a sergeant around $65 and an officer's salary around $100.
At the end of 1999 the average civil servant's salary was 176 Levs or $93, which
makes an average sergeant’s salary of approximately $120 and an officer’s salary
$186. It is difficult to compare police salaries to those in the private sector,
as a substantial part of the private sector is a „gray economy”. Police salaries
are considered insufficient, creating a strong disincentive for work in the
service, with many police officers and sergeants looking for unofficial jobs
on the side. Police work still maintains some attractiveness however, since
it can offer job security in a time of great unemployment.
2. 11. The
police training system
The Ministry of the Interior carries out the training of police personnel in
its own schools. There are a number of such schools, including the Police Academy,
a university-level school based in Sofia. Though fully controlled by the Ministry,
it remains a separate legal entity, with a curriculum largely following law
school and a special emphasis on criminal law, police law, criminology, and
practical training in policing skills. A degree from the Academy is considered
a law degree, and graduates of the Academy are allowed to practice law if they
decide not to work in the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry also provides
scholarships to students at other universities who are studying communications,
engineering and other disciplines, in exchange for a contractual obligation
that they work for the Police after graduation.
There are also several schools for police sergeants with 12-month training sessions, in the Bogorov neighborhood in the city of Sofia, and in the cities of Varna, Kazanlak and Pazardzhik and several centers for post-graduate training.
While the Minister of the Interior regulates police teaching and training, the Minister is still obligated to abide by the general requirements of educational legislation. According to official statements, the purpose of these schools is to train qualified police officers or sergeants in the shortest possible time. These sources note that training should provide graduates with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience as well as improve their general educational background and teach discipline. Students in all schools also receive practical training and learn to use firearms, special equipment and drive motor vehicles.
Education and training in the schools of the Ministry of the Interior has a military character. Students live in the schools, and give duty. The Ministry covers all expenses. Students are admitted to studies on the basis of exam results. Upon entry to the Police Academy, students sign an agreement that following graduation they will work for the Ministry of the Interior for 5 years. Graduates of the Ministry of the Interior school do not apply for a job after graduation, but rather receive a mandatory assignment. Should they to refuse to work for the Ministry of the Interior after graduation, they are required to pay back all expenses related to their education and training. Only after their mandatory job assignment can they apply for a job opening within the Ministry on their own initiative.
Teaching and training follow a curriculum for every grade approved by the Director of the National Police Service and/or the Minister of the Interior. Most teachers and trainers are staff of the Ministry of the Interior, with only some minor exceptions, such as general education classes.
Women were admitted to these schools in the mid-1990s. There is a quota for women in the Academy, which is 20% of the total number of students. Although as a matter of law there are no limitations on women's access to any position in the Ministry of the Interior, women are unlikely to work in the detection and investigation departments of the Police. More often, they patrol streets or work in the traffic police.
2. 12. The
police career system
One need not be necessarily a graduate of the Ministry of the Interior school
to receive employment with the Ministry of the Interior. Everyone can apply
for a job opening, as long as they meet the educational, training, psychological
and physical fitness requirements. Selection is made after a general interview,
a psychological interview and a physical fitness test. A commission chooses
candidates and offers jobs to those receiving the best results. Technically,
they are appointed by their respective superior in the hierarchy. While candidates
with a Ministry of the Interior school degree certainly enjoy better chances,
there is no such formal requirement. Applicants who are not graduates of the
Ministry of the Interior school must undergo additional training if offered
the position. Later entry is possible not only for sergeants, but also for officers.
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