Criminal Police and the Development of the Slovenian Police in the last two Decades

Abstract

The development of the Slovenian Criminal Police in the period after Slovenia gained its independence has been shaped through numerous reorganizations. During all previous reorganization processes, the Criminal Police were in constant interaction with the Uniformed Police, the other fundamental component of the Slovenian Police forces. This paper presents organizational solutions for a unified and coordinated management of both police services during different developmental periods. The change in investigating criminal offences at the local level is presented in more detail when, within in the framework of the Public Safety Project, this task was taken over by Police Officers/Criminal Investigators. Presentation of the adoption of the 1998 Police Act (orig. Zakon o policiji, 1998) also covers administrative and professional organization of the Criminal Police at the state and regional level in the so-called "three pillar" model of the organization of the Slovenian Police. Further development was then affected by certain Slovenian doctrinal documents and Slovenia's accession to the European Union and the Schengen Area. The Slovenian Police has been faced with the economic crisis that hit Slovenia and they have been also affected by necessary austerity measures. The results of the "Libra" and "Kaskade" projects and employment data show that the Criminal Police have not been as affected as the Uniformed Police. Several dilemmas regarding centralized and decentralized organization, as well as the administrative and professional management of the Criminal Police, have remained even after the adoption of the new police legislation in 2013. In the conclusions, we point out that employees as well as the wider expert public should be attracted to the preparation of the current basis for the reorganization of the Criminal Police. A decision on an even greater centralization in this field, which is the current goal of reorganization, is very important for the further development of the Slovenian police and its Criminal Police. As a result, the decision must be wisely and seriously questioned since its effectiveness and successfulness, which is rightly expected by the Slovenian public, will strongly depend on it.