Legality and legitimacy: Police activity principles in crime prevention

Abstract

This article explores additional possibilities for legal provisions that guide police powers in crime prevention, beside retrospective view on constraints of citizens freedom of movement and right to privacy in Great Britain in the context of combating terrorism, as well as powers of state organs in combating organized crime in the Republic of Serbia. From these cases three possibilities of normative - legal provisions related to police powers in crime prevention could be distinguished. Firstly, police officers are to be granted additional powers which could enable them to control behavior of potential offenders and victims more efficiently, without incriminating their behavior. Secondly, certain offences regarded as misdemeanors or summary offences, should be punishable by criminal law, thus allowing for police powers that would contribute to more efficient control of both potential offenders and victims. Thirdly, there is a possibility to prescribe, within an act which regulates police powers or a special act on crime prevention, special powers of police officers which they could use toward behavior of potential offenders and victims which is regulated by law and which usually go before committing of crime, and also which need not necessarily be incriminated by criminal or other laws. These proposals are followed by a discussion on police legitimacy like presumption for more efficient preventive work of law enforcement personnel. It is to that effect that we point out the need for identifying citizens' attitudes and expectations from the role of police on the basis of research made on a sample of citizens' reasons for submitting complaints and common reasons for calling the police (directly and via telephone). Two principles were especially singled out as the principles the respect of which can significantly determine the level of legitimacy in preventive activities of the police. They are principles of humanity and publicity.

U radu se ukazuje na eventualne dodatne mogućnosti normativno-pravnog uređivanja ovlašćenja policije u prevenciji kriminaliteta, uz osvrt na ograničenje slobode kretanja i prava na privatnost građana u Velikoj Britaniji u kontekstu suprotstavljanja terorizmu, kao i na ovlašćenja državnih organa u suprotstavljanju organizovanom kriminalitetu u Republici Srbiji. Izvan tih slučajeva mogu se izdvojiti tri mogućnosti normativno-pravnog uređivanja ovlašćenja policije u prevenciji kriminaliteta. Prva je da se pripadnicima policije daju dodatna ovlašćenja koja bi im omogućila da efikasnije kontrolišu ponašanje potencijalnog učinioca i žrtve, bez inkriminisanja njihovog ponašanja. Druga je da se proširi zona kažnjivosti na ponašanja koja su do tada bila devijantna ili su bila kažnjiva kao prekršaji, i tako policiji omogući da postojećim zakonskim ovlašćenjima kontroliše ponašanje potencijalnog učinioca i žrtve. Treća mogućnost podrazumeva da se zakonom kojim se određuju ovlašćenja policije, ili posebnim zakonom o prevenciji kriminaliteta predvide posebna ovlašćenja koja pripadnici policije mogu koristiti u odnosu na zakonom određena ponašanja potencijalnih učinilaca i žrtava krivičnih dela koja često prethode njihovom izvršenju, a koja pri tome ne bi morala nužno biti inkriminisana krivičnim ili drugim zakonom. Zatim sledi izlaganje o principu legitimiteta kao pretpostavki za uspešnije preventivno delovanje pripadnika policije. U tom smislu ukazuje se na potrebu utvrđivanja stavova i očekivanja građana od policije na osnovu istraživanja razloga podnošenja predstavki građana i, uopšte, razloga obraćanja građana (neposredno i telefonskim putem). Posebno su izdvojena dva principa od čijeg poštovanja u značajnoj meri zavisi obezbeđivanje principa legitimiteta u policijskom preventivnom postupanju. To su principi humanosti i javnosti.