More than 70 Percent of Serbia’s Citizens Have Little, or No Trust in the Police

Serbian Police Car (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/MO)

More than 70 percent of Serbia’s citizens have little or no trust in their police force, while 41.7 percent of the surveyed believe that the police mainly serve the interests of political parties, show results of a public poll carried by police association Dr Rudolf Arcibald Rajs.

The poll reveals that only 6.1 percent of the respondents trust the police, while nearly 72 percent believe that politicians have full control over operations of the police force. “The surveyed expressed concerns with political influence, corruption and insufficient presence of police officers on the ground, while a considerable portion of the polled believes that communication between the police and the public during crisis is not satisfactory,” the association has said.

According to the poll, 37.8 percent of the respondents believe that the police primarily protect the interests the Serbian Government, while 9.4 percent of those surveyed think that the police only protect the interest of their top officials. Asked about professional conduct of the police force, 55.6 percent of the respondents said they were professional only occasionally.

The poll also shows that corruption is perceived as a major problem among police officers by as many as 74.7 percent of the respondents, while 67.4 percent assess cooperation between the police force and citizens as poor or very poor. The poll was carried on a representative sample of people of different gender, age group and educational level.