Failures for the Romanian Police

Dismissals and arrests of police officers involved in serious incidents

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Bogdan Matei, 05.03.2021, 01:50

Romanian law enforcement is the headline grabbing topic
these days, but not for its merits, but rather for its failures. Interior
Minister Lucian Bode has announced the recent dismissal of the Bacău Police County Inspectorate and the Oneşti Police Inspectorate,
after a recent homicide in eastern Romania. The Romanian official also
announced and investigation on charges of dereliction of duty, as the seriousness
of incident had been ignored, the data gathered had been insufficient and the
superiors hadn’t been fully informed. On Monday, two workers renovating an
apartment in Oneşti were killed by the former landlord, angry for having been
evicted. Negotiations with law enforcement agents failed, and police opened
fire to enter the apartment where the 70-year-old landlord was keeping the two
workers hostage. The killer was shot and taken to the hospital. The Interior
Minister says a full report will be issued in this case, where there are suspicions
that the law enforcement officers’ lack of professionalism actually caused the
hostages being killed. The Interior Minister has also confirmed that one of the
victims was shot by one of the rubber bullets fired by the police. Lucian Bode.

The body of one of the victims showed marks of non-lethal ammunition.
It is possible he was shot while the police stormed the apartment. We have an
ongoing criminal investigation, which has confirmed two cartridges were fired,
each cartridge consisting of 15 rubber balls. The investigation will give us
the exact spot of the shooters and the victims.

Meanwhile, the Bucharet Tribunal ordered the pre-trial arrest of three
police officers working at a station in Bucharest and placing another three
officers under judicial control for 60 days. The officers stand accused of
beating and torturing two young men in 2020 who warned them they weren’t
wearing face masks and that they were awarding fines without good reason. The
officers abandoned the two beaten men by an empty land. The incident is the
latest in a long series of police abuses reported in the last year since the
pandemic struck. Commentators have harshly accused the police of abusing their
prerogatives, saying local law enforcement agencies employ people of doubtful
qualification and that the reform of the system implemented 15 years ago is an
obvious failure. Many mayors who’ve recently been elected have promised to
eliminate all ineffective law enforcement agencies. Former public guards, who
merely patrolled markets and parks, were requalified as community police
officers. They were given cars, guns, ammo and the right to fine and arrest
people. But not the right to torture them. Still, to many such individuals,
there’s a fine line between doing your job and abusing it. (V.P.)