Today, 26 March 2008, at the Police Academy in Tacen, the official end of the basic specialist training of the first group of municipal wardens took place.

Training certificates were given to 34 city wardens by the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Zvonko Zinrajh. The ceremony was also attended by Slovenian police authorities and the mayors of the municipalities that sent the wardens to the training.

From left to right: Danijel Žibret, Director of the Uniformed Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate; Srečko Jarc, Director General of the Police and Security Directorate; and Zvonko Zinrajh, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior

The police carried out the basic specialist training programme for municipal wardens on the basis of the Act on Local Police and the Rules on Specialist Training. Training of the first group started 26 November last year at the Police Academy in Tacen for the first group of participants. The Ministry of the Interior concluded contracts with 16 municipalities, and for the second group an additional 7 contracts were concluded. On 10 March 2008, a new group of 43 municipal wardens began training.

The Programme of basic specialist training for municipal wardens carried out by experts from the Police Academy comprised 370 hours of education and training from the following areas of expertise:

• organisation, functioning and equipment of the municipal warden service
• procedures in relation to violations and public order
• safety of road traffic
• criminal offences and events
• authorisations, practical procedures and skills
• informatics and telecommunications
• social skills
• practical training
• integrated exercises

The first group of municipal warden candidates successfully passed the written and practical parts of the examination.

The examination of city wardens took place in front of various committees consisting of employees of the police, ministries, local self-government and various associations. The examination itself was independent of the training. After the Act on Local Police and the Protection of Public Order Act enters into force, city wardens will not only work in regulating traffic, but will have an expanded range of duties.

The Act on Local Police lays down in Article 30 that city wardens shall:

- supervise safe and unhindered road traffic in settlements,
- protect the streets and the environment in settlements and on municipal roads outside the settlements,
- take care of safety on municipal public ways, recreational and other public areas,
- take care of public property, natural and cultural heritage, and
- maintain the public order and peace.

Working areas and competences of the municipal wardens are also laid down in the Protection of Public Order Act. The municipal warden service may, in accordance with the provisions of ZJRM-1, in violation procedure decide on the following violations from this Act:

- indecent behaviour
- begging in a public place
- use of dangerous objects
- damaging of official inscriptions, signs or decrees
- writing on buildings
- vandalism
- forbidden camping
- animal use, and
- ignoring the legal measures of officials.

Working area and competences of municipal wardens are also laid down in the Road Traffic Safety Act, and thereby municipal wardens shall:

- perform supervision of stopped and parked vehicles and obstacles in settlements,
- perform supervision of the behaviour of participants in road traffic in areas of slow traffic and in pedestrian zones,
- establish violations of paragraph 113 of the ZVCP on the protection of roads and the environment in settlements and municipal roads outside of settlements.

After the Act on Local Police enters into force, particular tasks of public safety will no longer be transferred from the police to the municipal warden service; therefore, the police will continue to perform all duties in accordance with the law. The fact remains that the Protection of Public Order Act gives authority to the municipal warden service to supervise particular provisions of the stated Act.

In order to assure public safety and protection of public order and peace in local communities, the Act on Local Police lays down obligations of the Ministry of the Interior and of the Police in providing expert help to local communities in preparing and carrying out their community safety programmes. The police have been fulfilling the obligations imposed by law since July 2007, providing communities with adequate expert help for preparing safety assessments and community safety programmes. The cooperation continues in all other areas where needed in order to implement the Act on Local Police.