On May 18, 2024, a new law entered into force, which provides for the strengthening of mobilization measures. Its main provisions determine certain normative changes, in particular for police officers. They should transfer from special registration to general military registration, but this does not mean their automatic mobilization. Although the document provides for the exclusion of the right to postponement for employees of the National Police, however, reservation has been introduced for law enforcement officers.
IA “FAKT” turned to the former head of the regional police department, who spoke about the problematic issues of mobilization and reservation of police officers and their consequences.
As you know, according to the government’s resolution, the mobilization resource of the National Police of Ukraine is 50% of the personnel. Are these norms being followed?
According to the new law on mobilization, police officers are transferred from special to general military registration. This does not mean their automatic mobilization, but implies the exclusion of the right to postponement for the employees of the National Police, i.e. reservation has been introduced for law enforcement officers. I emphasize, not 50% of the personnel, but all of them. By the way, people’s deputies of Ukraine also loudly declared this, claiming 100% reservation.
What powers does the new law give to the police regarding participation in mobilization activities?
The law gives the National Police of Ukraine the right to participate in mobilization measures. Thus, during martial law and mobilization, police officers have the right to require men aged 18-60 to present a military registration document together with an identity document. The new law on mobilization specifies that police officers, together with representatives of territorial recruiting and social support centers, can inform men of conscription age about the need to visit the TCC. The police can also help employees of the TCC and JV to deliver the conscript (“evader”) to the recruitment center, record the procedure of serving the summons to TCC employees on camera by delivering it to the TCC at the request of the TCC.
Some Ukrainians believe that police officers should be among the first to go to war, because they have special education and are trained to handle weapons. On May 6, a petition was even posted on the website of the President of Ukraine regarding the general mobilization of police officers, which received 2,691 votes out of 25,000. How do you feel about such a question?
Based on the experience of the Second World War, the majority of police officers were mobilized to the front. However, in those days, everyone understood well that work in the law enforcement field could not be stopped either. Therefore, a number of measures were carried out in the militia itself – the number of women in the service was increased (the number of women in various units was up to 20%); all employees’ vacations were canceled; joint work has been established with security personnel and military units to ensure the detection of subversive groups, potentially criminogenic groups consisting of deserters, persons evading mobilization, as well as sympathizers with the enemy.
Of course, the police guarded industrial enterprises, communal facilities and public order in populated areas. By the way, most of the employees of the mobilized militia were used not just in the infantry. These were intelligence units, partisan units, sabotage groups. That is, the employee of the law enforcement agency was used in accordance with his training.
So, I think if the idea of mobilizing the police is for these purposes, then it can lead to positive results. But I emphasize, if at the same time, they will not forget about the fight against crime and the protection of public order in the country.
From the first day of the war, the policemen have been fighting, performing combat tasks in the combined “Rage” detachments, the “Offensive Guard” brigade, other rifle battalions and military brigades. Since the beginning of the war, there has been a problem with the staffing of police units. How will an even greater number of mobilized policemen affect the crime situation in the country? How well will the tasks of combating crime, protecting public order, and investigating crimes be performed?
Any reduction in the number of police officers on the streets of cities, especially in the conditions of hostilities and even after the end of a military conflict, is unacceptable. This is evidenced by the experience of all conflicts. In most cases, the war led to an aggravation of the criminal situation and the country had to introduce a state of emergency, during which the police could no longer cope with the situation that arose, and the army had to be called in to restore order. Especially if the country had problems with the economy. We can clearly see this.
Economic decline, losses in the war, unemployment, a large number of weapons in the population lead to a worsening of the crime-related situation. In addition, the reduction of spending on education, medicine, social tension in society — all this naturally causes dissatisfaction among the citizens of the country. In this situation, only a strong, well-organized professional law enforcement system is needed. Any weakening of it will lead to very tragic results.
Unfortunately, the police reform has already led to a significant worsening of the criminal situation and weakening of public order in the country. And if there is also a mass mobilization of law enforcement officers, the result can be extremely deplorable.
I would advise the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to consider the issue of sending police officers to the front under any guise, but to conduct a serious analysis of their work and propose to the parliament to adopt legislative acts that will help the police to move to a higher level of police work, taking into account the current challenges. It is real and necessary.
In the current environment, when the country is awash with weapons, when general instability is increasing, all police officers are practically at war, regardless of geography. Preservation of professional personnel should be the main task of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the leadership of the country as a guarantor of the future state. I believe that we should not think about reducing the number of employees, but about the efforts of the personnel at the expense of experienced and motivated servicemen who have gone through the war. Of course, we should not be talking about the deterioration of the financial support of the police.
