The Analysis of the Qualification Level of Members of Police Intervention Patrols for Application of Means of Coercion

Abstract

Due to intensity of stress in police officers and the frequency of its appearance, policing is classified among the most stressful jobs. The most extreme kinds of stress in police officers are connected with the use of means of coercion because these are situations in which breach or limitation of human rights or liberties may appear, or there may be injuries and fatal consequences. Because of the listed specificities of policing, a survey was conducted on the sample of 32 members of intervention patrols of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MOI of the RS), because members of the police intervention patrols often operate in high-risk situations, in which there is stronger probability that means of coercion would be used, than in interventions by police officers in other jobs and assignments. The aim of the study was to determine how often and in which way the police officers use means of coercion, to which extent they are trained to use them and how much attention is paid to such type of training. The results of the study point that all respondents have used means of coercion at least once during their careers. However, disturbing results are related to situations in which almost the third of the respondents have not used the means of coercion although all legal conditions for their application have been fulfilled. Also, the results imply that insufficient attention is paid to education of police officers related to the use of means of coercion. All things listed above imply that the approach to this problem should be changed, that is, the training of a police officer should be more intense, so that it would be continuous and applied during the whole career.