The support of members of the police for the regime of Aleksandar Vučić is "crowning" every day. This is visible not only to people protesting on the street, but also to ordinary citizens, even to television viewers. Since the beginning of January, and now it is only visible in April, the police officers have been acting indolently according to the orders from the top of the government. But not directly, but indirectly, through the bosses, who give them orders on how to act, at will - and with agreed codes known only to them.
There were large protests in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Niš, where bosses and ministers were angry because of the actions of the police on the ground.
"Look, brother, I'm a colonel of the police, but I can't order the deployment of my forces if it's not legal," explained an interlocutor from the MUP for "Vreme". "Vučić cannot give orders to me, and neither can Dacić as a minister, only the director of the police can. I don't count assistant directors, they are not 'our own'. The law stands between me and the minister, and he is stronger than us!"
This police officer, whose children are students and regularly participate in protests, states as a parent: "I should send my people against my children - never. Because my children are right!"
RAISING THE BATON
What the author of this text knows for sure is that the mood of ordinary policemen in police departments throughout Serbia is below the historical minimum since October 5, 2000 - people watch their children, sisters, nephews... in blockades.
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. How should I act? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from southern Serbia who works in the Belgrade Police Brigade as needed told "Vreme".
The case in Novi Sad, where the head of the Police Department and the head of the criminal police department beat an infirm old man, is the subject of court proceedings. And how many such cases are there in Serbia?
The police, in general, perform their work correctly, except when it comes to those from the Police Brigade from Banovo brdo. They seem to be designed to protect the government at all costs. Their former commander, Colonel Dušan Puvača, tried to resolve conflicts peacefully and was successful in that, no one complained about him. He never ordered to "raise the baton" against citizens, as Aleksandar Vučić would say, unless it was a direct attack on authorized officials, and even then it was minimal. Now this brigade (and not only it) reacts instinctively - first with a baton, then "diplomacy". The current one
acting director of police Dragan Vasiljević is an experienced policeman, but also a weak one. In fact, he was placed on acting status until he retires in a year or two.
The police force is falling apart, and no one can help them anymore. In vain, various horizontal and vertical commands. The only thing that doesn't see this chaos is the Minister of the Interior and his closest associates.
"WE HAVE BEEN ORDERED"
Then you get to the special units, the highest paid, the Gendarmerie and the SAJ. The Gendarmerie, as a "striking fist", set its conditions for the minister a long time ago. They are not against the government and are ready to protect it, but with "clean accounts". Gendarmerie commander, Colonel Saša Kosović - a former member of the "Red Berets" and later PTJ - found the strength to publicly express this to Minister Ivica Dačić, which his predecessor Dejan Luković could not. And that is that this unit will protect Serbia. What does "protecting Serbia" mean, is a big question. Also, whether the promise of a former member of the "Red Berets" is stronger than the one given by a graduate of the Police Academy, Luković, trained for that job.
The Department for Public Order and Peace of the Belgrade Police is crucial for carrying out tasks during the protests. Everyone works in civilian clothes and gives realistic estimates about the number of people present at a gathering, better than everyone else from the MUP. In 90 percent of the cases, we are talking about educated young people or those in middle age, while the other 10 percent are called "cutters" - they came through a relationship. And those people have realistic assessments, but then their bosses "haircut" it to their superior bosses. It is also interesting that the protests are monitored by members of the Criminal Police Directorate, the War Crimes Investigation Department, and even Interpol. When asked why, they answer: "They ordered us". Some of them barely apologize for being caught there.
"Vremen"'s source from the top of the MUP said decisively: "I have known Vasiljević (acting director of the police) for decades and he would never break the law. He can order anything except for the police to attack peaceful children. That is not characteristic of him. He was the mayor of Novi Pazar for many years, where he is from. What is little known is that thanks to Vailjević, students from Novi Pazar came to Belgrade unhindered."
By the way, many police officers say that the MUP is falling apart. Nothing is known anymore - neither when they are on duty, nor what they are responsible for, and guarding "Çacilland" is a story in itself.
