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Stealing the future
By
Derek Chappell

20 DM will buy you a good meal in most of the restaurants in Pristina.
20 DM can also be the price of a life – especially if the life is that of a police officer

On August 22 a Kosovo Police officer stopped a speeding car in Pristina. After talking to the driver, the officer issued the driver a ticket. The ticket was in the sum of 20 DM. The driver left, then later returned and attempted to kill the officer by running him over with his car. Fortunately, he did not succeed and was arrested.

This incident dramatically illustrates the problem that many Kosovo police officers face every day. There is a resistance to authority ingrained in many people that increasingly results in them challenging even their own police.

Daily we see examples of verbal and physical abuse directed at people who have dedicated themselves to the building of a future for their friends and neighbours. The members of the Kosovo Police Service have demonstrated their vision, their belief and their commitment in the most practical way possible. At considerable risk, and for little financial gain, they have decided to become a part of the rebuilding of Kosovo. Many people dream and talk about the future, these people are the future.

One may feel that the origin of this resistance lies in the recent history of the police being an arm of political control, enforcing law that repressed and controlled people, groups and even thoughts that politicians considered threatening. This corruption of policing, from a community service to a community control, has indeed created a climate of suspicion towards authority.

The theme of Community Service has been central to the development of the Kosovo Police. Every police service needs a sense of purpose, a vision that defines its daily performance. The Kosovo Police Service has been established to serve the people, not political masters. It has been created to be a part of the society it protects, officers drawn from all ethnic and political lines, applying law that establishes the security and confidence individuals need to live their lives and pursue their dreams without fear.

Nothing is more basic than security. It is the most urgent and essential need for any living being. Without security there is fear. Without security there is anarchy as individuals compete for life and prosperity. Without security there is no collective basis for a community to develop or progress. The Kosovo Police is the mechanism to provide that security. It is the primal basis for any evolution of Kosovo beyond an occupied land dependent on international aid and support.

That is why the recurring incidents of violence directed at the Kosovo Police are disturbing. They represent an inability by some people to put their community first, a refusal to recognize that they are not competing individuals but members of a community with shared interests and values. Accepting group standards of behaviour is the beginning of social development. Law is merely the collective agreement by a group to observe certain behaviour. The people of Kosovo now have fair and equitable law being applied with discretion by members of their own community. If they cannot accept that then what hope is there for any further political development.

One would expect a degree of pride by most people in the sight of the Kosovo Police on patrol in their own distinctive uniforms. They are the most visible symbol of how far this province has come in such a short time. They are also the most tangible evidence of a collective Kosovo identity. Over recent years many issues have brought people together in resistance, in self defence and in defiance. That unity was forged from conflict, hatred and violence. Why can the same sense of unity not emerge from peace and the opportunities that provides.

I sense that recent history does not fully account for opposition to authority. Many people do not accept personal responsibility for their behaviour. There is a me first attitude that is evident in the way some drivers disregard basic rules of courtesy and safety on the road, the way that shoppers often push their way to the front of a queue and in the way that travellers at the airport elbow and force their way to be first to the counter. With little self-responsibility it is not surprising that there is a hostile reaction to the police when they impose order.

From working with the Kosovo Police I have been impressed with their qualities of altruism and vision. They truly believe that they can make a difference to their community and they are imbued with a sense of service and loyalty to their fellow citizens. Many are able to put history and division in the past and concentrate on the future. They truly are ‘Kosovo’s Finest’. They should be a source of inspiration and pride.

All of this hard work and dedication however, will count for nothing unless the community they police is willing to accept the law they represent. Living in a democratic society means that individuals must accept limits on their personal freedom to ensure community security. That is happening now.

Concern over violence by those who refuse to recognize authority should not overshadow the success of the Kosovo Police in establishing themselves and in winning the support of most citizens. As the Kosovo Police become increasingly independent and self directed, performing a greater variety of policing duties amongst their own people, more criminal information is being received from the public, there is a trend to rely on the police to settle disputes that otherwise would have resulted in feuds and more criminal cases are being solved through local knowledge and contacts. All of this is very satisfying, proving the acceptance of the Kosovo Police and their success in community policing.

It is the development of a sense of community that will unify the people of Kosovo. The application of community based policing will promote that sense of oneness. The Kosovo Police is the pre requisite to further political and social evolution, as the building block of social harmony. Those misguided individuals who do not recognize that and resist the creation of order are living in the past.

Every threat, every assault, every act of intimidation or disrespect towards the Kosovo Police is an act of intimidation towards the people of Kosovo. Every time it is shouted in anger ‘You are no better than the Serbs’ at a Kosovo Police officer, every time a threat is made in response to a traffic ticket and every time a citizen of Kosovo lifts an arm to offer violence towards their own police, a small part of the future is being stolen from all who live here. That future is too precious, too close and has been achieved through too much human sacrifice for the selfish actions of a few to steal from all who have so much to gain.