Bulgaria:
Police in Transition (parts 5 and 6)
5.
Performance measurement
5.1. The methods and system of measuring police performance
There is no regular system of performance measurement besides clearance rates,
a system far from perfect. As the Police was not an investigation authority
until January 2000, there were large discrepancies between cleared crime reported
by the Police and successful investigations reported by the Investigation Service.
No uniform criminal law statistics were developed as of the end of the 1990s,
despite the fact that the National Strategy on Fighting Crime had set this as
an explicit task. The lack of established data collection techniques and the
political agendas of the Ministry of the Interior, the Investigation Service
and Prosecution Office, each trying to present its work as most effective, resulted
in conflicting and incompatible figures on crime detection, investigation and
successful prosecution.
According to one study released by the Criminal Research Council with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, there were 243,279 complaints and information submitted to the Ministry of the Interior in 1995. After a preliminary gathering 37,176 (15.3%) did not reveal evidence of crime and no further action was taken. The Police continued work on the remaining 206,103 cases. The Ministry of the Interior detected 87,828 of the perpetrators of these criminal offenses. The reported clearance rate for crimes against persons and property, according to this study, was 39.7%, the highest percentage reported for the period 1991-1995. At the beginning of 1995, according to this same study, there were 103,136 pending investigations. In 1995 an additional 187,956 investigations were opened and 173,405 were finished. At the end of 1995 there were 117,687 pending investigations.
For that same year, the data provided by the National Investigation Service is significantly different. In 1995 there were 312,117 investigations and 287,992 in 1994. Of all the investigations submitted to the Prosecution, 79.7% were terminated by the prosecutors as the perpetrator was not detected. And in 6.9% of the investigations no charges were brought to court, as no crime had been committed. In 1995, the Prosecution brought 15,464 charges in court against 24,109 alleged perpetrators for 20,412 criminal offenses. The Prosecution brought charges in court in 82.5% of the cases where investigation was concluded with an opinion by the investigator that the case should go to trial. According to the Official Bulletin of the Ministry of Justice, in 1995 the Prosecution brought 15,332 charges in court and 16,564 persons were convicted. This example clearly demonstrates that even allowing for time differences, the figures provided by the various institutions are widely different and incompatible.
The total number of persons convicted in 1995 also reveal substantial differences in the numbers. According to the National Statistics Institute, which receives data from the Ministry of the Interior, there were 11,567 convictions in 1995. A further difficulty in adequately measuring the crime detection effectiveness of the Police is the unreliable registering of crime, a system that is not particularly strict and allows for later manipulation. This substantially diminishes the credibility of any study of crime detection rates and undermines the possibility of conducting reliable performance measurement on crime detection and investigation.
5.2. The
self-presentation of the police as crime fighters
The predominant attitudes and approach of the Police has been as „fighters”
against crime and heavy-handed law enforcement. Resonance from far of zero tolerance
policing was well received. These predominant attitudes were translated in 1997
and 1998 into large-scale police actions whose underlying purpose was the demonstration
of strength. Such attitudes were strongly reinforced by public opinion that
had perceived organized crime as a substantial problem in the mid-1990s and
had welcomed the show of power. Although the public is becoming increasingly
uneasy about frequent cases of police brutality, there are no signs of a change
in attitude towards the Police.
5.3. Public
opinion surveys about policing
The Police has had a relatively high approval rate compared to the other Government
institutions. Throughout the late 1990s, approval rates were around 55%. In
comparison, the approval rates for the courts were a bit over 20 % and for the
Prosecutors’ Office around 25%. Approval rates were particularly high in 1997-1998
as a result of a very active media campaign of the Ministry of the Interior,
a demonstration of a „tough hand” approach against criminals and the success
of the Police in removing the most visible examples of criminal presence from
the streets. While a relatively high average of 50% of the public believes that
the Police abuses its powers, this does not effect the overall positive approval.
In a 1997 survey, 68% believed that there was a need of civilian oversight over
the Police.
6.
International co-operation
6.1. Participation in institutions of international police
co-operation
Bulgaria is a member of INTERPOL and has direct co-operation agreements with
the police services of a number of countries. Such co-operation agreements are
reached and carried out by the National Service Police.
6.2. Advice
and assistance in the course of democratic reorganization
Assistance in developing training programs and re-organization of the Police
had been provided by different Governments during the last few years (US, West
European). Foreign experts had been consulted in the process of drafting legislation
and Regulations.
6.3. Participation
in international policing and human rights agreements
Besides the international Human Rights agreements to which Bulgaria is a state
party, a number of other international treaties are relevant with respect to
the work of the Police, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, the Convention for the Prevention of Torture, and the Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms.
6.4. Collaboration
at agency level
No information provided.
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