1. Mandate

The mandate of UNMIK Police is defined by two main goals of UNMIK's law and order strategy in Kosovo: provision of interim law enforcement services and the rapid development of a credible, professional and impartial Kosovo Police Service (KPS).Three distinct phases can be discerned in this process. Generally speaking, the first phase requires KFOR to have the lead for ensuring public safety and order with the international police serving as advisers. In the second phase UNMIK civilian police assume responsibilities for law and order from KFOR. Simultaneously, during this phase, UNMIK police develop and deploy a professional Kosovo Police Service. The third and final phase anticipates a transfer of authority from the international police to the KPS, whereby the former withdraws to a monitoring and advisory role. At present, the police mission is going through the third phase where 10 of the 37 police stations have been transitioned to KPS command.

2. International Police

As transition to Kosovo Police progresses, the number of international police officers is on the decrease. From about 4,450 in the beginning of 2003 the Civpol strength has come down to 3,750 (approx) by the end of the year. This trend is likely to continue during 2004 and 2005 by the end of which complete handover to KPS command is planned.

Current UNMIK Police Strenght:

(As on 19 December 2003)

CIVPOL Deployment:

(As on 19 December 2003)

Ø The Special Police Units (SPU) are a distinct component of UNMIK Police. The SPUs perform a specialist function in that they represent a large, paramilitary, mobile and self-sufficient force of officers capable of rapid deployment to high-risk situations.

The principal duties of the SPU are to respond to public disorder, conduct crowd control during violent demonstrations and civil unrest, provide facility protection and assistance to UN agencies where necessary, and to provide protection and security to UN officials, UNMIK Police and the Border Police in the discharge of their duties. SPUs also provide operational support and backup to UNMIK Police.
Currently there are Special Police Units from India, Jordan, Romania, Pakistan, Argentina, Poland and Ukraine with a total of 975 personnel.

The SPU component includes a special Canine Unit from Ukraine comprising Alsatians (German Shepherds), Spaniels and Doberman. Five dogs work with explosives; ten with drugs, and ten are patrol and tracking dogs. The canine unit's most frequent discoveries are weapons found at car checkpoints or during UNMIK Police and KFOR special operations. The unit is used for special operations against organised crime dealers in contrabands.

Ø The Border Police was established as a separate component of UNMIK Police, because of the specialised nature of their duties. It currently consists of 345 international officers.

UNMIK Border Police are responsible for:
- Enforcement of law at the borders;
- Ensuring compliance with immigration laws and border regulations.

During the first half of 2003, 3,198,492 people and 403031 vehicles attempted to enter Kosovo. 1508 people and 1105 vehicles were refused entry into Kosovo, 526 suspect documents were seized and a total of 137 people were detained for illegal border crossing.

Current Organisation & Strength of Border Police:

Station	International Police Officers
RHQ	41
Cafa Prushit/Cafa Morina	28
General Jankovic	58
Globocica	27
Pristina Airport	76
Vrbnica	46
Kulina Pass	11
Gate #1	12
Gate #3	12
Gate #4	10
Gate #5	13
Gate #31	11
TOTAL	345

(As on 19 December 2003)

 

3. The Kosovo Police Service (KPS)

Background

The training of the first class of Kosovo Police Service (KPS) Officers started on 5 September 1999 at the Kosovo Police Service School (KPSS) in Vushtrii with 176 officers, including 37 women, who were deployed to the field after graduating from the six week course on 16 October 1999. Four years since, UNMIK Police, in cooperation with OSCE, has recruited, trained, and deployed over 5600 KPS Officers, and an additional 53 KPS Security Service Officers.

Organisation

The Kosovo Police Service has two major units within the Police Service: the Police Service (KPS) and the Security Services Division (KPSSD). KPS performs general law enforcement and public safety tasks, while KPSSD is tasked with the internal security of government buildings.

KPS Officers are full service police officers vested with powers of arrest and detention and perform their duties while under arms. On the other hand, KPSSD Security Officers do not have the power of arrest and detention, and perform their security functions while unarmed but supported by armed KPS Officers/Supervisors.

The current Kosovo Police Service strength, as of 19 December, 2003, is as follows:

KPS PERSONNEL STRENGTH 19-12-03
REGION	ON INDEPENDENT PATROL / DUTIES	ON FIELD TRAINING	TOTAL
Main HQ	403	-	403
Pristina	1240	91	1331
Gnjilane	952	69	1021
Prizren	727	66	793
Pec	811	5	816
Mitrovica	704	23	727
Border Police	400	50	450
KPSS	88	-	88
TOTAL	5325	304	5629

 

Recruitment and training

The applicants for the Kosovo Police Service, or for the Security Services Division have to be residents of Kosovo and have a secondary education qualification at the time of application. The age limit for the candidates ranges from 21 to 56. They are further required to pass a physical ability test, go through a written and oral examination, background investigation, medical examination as well as psychological fitness testing. Prospective applicants for both units are taken from the same applicant eligibility list.

The early training was necessarily short in order to place officers on the street at the earliest possible date. Training has been continually upgraded and lengthened over the past four years. Successful recruits now receive 20 weeks training and are on probation for two years. During their service they are continually being given advanced and refresher training so that education is ongoing with the development of the service.

Ethnic composition

The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) has been largely successful in achieving multi-ethnicity in its staffing profile. Currently, the Kosovo Serb officers make up more than 9% of the local police force, which is more than the current proportion of Serbs in the population. The overall minority participation in the police service is over 15%.

KPS ETHNICITY & GENDER STATISTICS AS ON 19-12-03
ETHNICITY	FEMALE	MALE	TOTAL	% TOTAL
Albanian	742	4017	4759	84.54%
Ashkalia	0	18	18	0.32%
Bosniac	31	158	189	3.36%
Cerkezi	0	4	4	0.07%
Croat	0	2	2	0.04%
Egyptian	1	5	6	0.11%
Goran	0	23	23	0.41%
Macedonian	1	0	1	0.02%
Montenegrin	1	1	2	0.04%
Roma	1	17	18	0.32%
Serbian	60	470	530	9.42%
Turkish	8	67	75	1.33%
Others	0	2	2	0.04%
TOTAL	845	4784	5629	100%

 

Projections

The Police Service expects to graduate approximately 700 KPS Officers during the calendar year 2003. Based on current projections, the following is the projected strength of the Kosovo Police Service up to the year 2006:

The Target Goal for the Kosovo Police Service aims at having a total of 6,500 Officers (including Border Police) as set forth in the KPS Strategic Planning Document. Included in this estimate are the 549 Officers needed to support the Border Police. In addition, there is a projection for 800 Security Services Officers that are not included in the Target Goal of KPS and of about 1000 civilian administrative staff.

KPS Component Projected Strength KPS - General Policing 5,085 KPS - Traffic Safety Police 549 KPS - Border Police 549 KPSSD (KPS Staff) 100 TOTAL KPS STRENGTH 6,500 KPSSD Security Officers 800

 

The Target Goal for KPS strength is based on Kosovo population (estimated at about 2,000,000 residents), crime indexes for the various municipalities (based on a 12 month statistical analysis) and non-criminal calls for service.

KPS Command and Supervisory Structure

To allow the KPS organisation to develop with its new responsibilities, it is essential to provide the numbers of officers, the command structure and the specialist knowledge, on a schedule, to allow the transition plan to succeed.

Promotion within the KPS is based on a competitive examination process. The test for promotion to Sergeant consists of questions on Kosovo law, human rights, traffic law and police procedure. Those successful at the exam are interviewed by a selection board.

Promotion to more senior ranks, such as Lieutenant and Captain, involve written examinations on more detailed aspects of law, together with role play and simulation exercises designed to test ones problem solving ability. Management training is provided to all senior ranks as is instruction on operational planning.

 

KPS RANK STRUCTURE AS ON 19-12-03
REGION	TOTAL	COLONEL	LT COL	MAJOR	CAPTAIN	LIEUTENANT	SERGEANT	POLICE OFFICER
Main HQ	403	1	3	7	1	9	33	349
Pristina	1331	-	1	1	4	26	104	1195
Gnjilane	1021	-	1	1	3	11	76	929
Prizren	793	-	1	-	1	9	41	741
Pec	816	-	1	-	2	2	48	763
Mitrovica	727	-	2	-	-	5	30	690
Border Police	450	-	-	-	1	1	12	436
KPSS	88	-	-	-	-	1	10	77
TOTAL	5629	1	9	9	12	64	354	5180

(As on 19 December 2003)