Today, 11 June 2008, on the premises of the Police Academy in Tacen, Director General of the Slovenian Police Jože Romšek and Director of the Uniformed Police Directorate, General Police Directorate, Danijel Žibret awarded deserving members of the police force with commemorative emblems on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Police Orchestra.

The commemorative emblem of the Police Orchestra was awarded to retired and other members of the Police Orchestra, to state authorities, organisations, companies, local communities, societies and individuals who were actively engaged in the orchestra's successful activity.

Apart from the Director General of the Slovenian Police, Jože Romšek, and the conductor of the Police Orchestra, Janez Kukec, the ceremony was attended by the Head of Internal Organisation Units at the General Police Directorate and the Director of the Police Directorate and other security tasks at the Ministry of the Interior, Srečko Jarc, as well as the Director of the Internal Administrative Affairs Directorate, MI, Bojan Trnovšek.

According to Jože Romšek, who gave a formal speech at the ceremony, the Police Orchestra's performances in Slovenia and abroad have resulted in many awards and admiration among the expert public. "All the awards, which came as a result of a tireless and unselfish sprit of the musicians, fill all of us, the orchestra members as well as the entire police force, with pride."

The conductor of the Police Orchestra, Janez Kukec, pointed out at the ceremony that recognition by the general public is very important to the orchestra members, as few European countries can pride themselves on such an excellent woodwind orchestra.

The very beginnings of the Police Orchestra date back ton 1948, when the Folk Militia Wind Band was founded at the "stone table" at Vodnik's residence. On 24 February 1994, the orchestra was designated the official protocol orchestra of the Republic of Slovenia, which was officially renamed the Police Orchestra in 2001.

The Police Orchestra plays at all protocol events, as well as formal ceremonies and events at the highest national level. It also performs at numerous solo and promotional concerts, as well as at commemorative ceremonies. The orchestra's humanitarian spirit is significant, as their masterful performances can also be heard at charity concerts.

Since the beginning of the nineties, the orchestra has been employing musicians with diplomas from the Music Academy. Another condition for aspiring musicians to get into the orhestra, apart from their academic education, is a demanding audition, where an audition committee selects the best candidates. The most candidates apply for the position of clarinetist and trumpeter, whereas horn or oboe players are hard to find. Between 1991 and 2000, when the conductor of the Police Orchestra was maestro Milivoj Šurbek, the orchestra's main objective was to develop a high level of artistic expression. Maestro Šurbek was successful in his guidance, as the orchestra developed a typical symphonic sound, which has remained their distinguishing feature ever since.

Since their establishment, the Police Orchestra has been hosted in several countries. The orchestra played in Macedonia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary and England this year, and also performed at Villa Opicina in Italy, just outside the border with Slovenia, where they last performed 41 years ago.

The Police Orchestra is highly esteemed by audiences in Slovenia and abroad. The orchestra never ceases to amaze with its top-level performances and interesting choice of repertoire. Their recent performance at the gala concert for the 60th anniversary of the Police Orchestra in Cankarjev Dom was a typical example of their excellence.

To date, the orchestra has given approximately 10,000 concerts, which amounts to more than 200 performances annually, either as the full orchestra or as small ensembles (e.g. trio, quartet, quintet, sextet).

In recent years a number of Slovenian and foreign conductors and composers have cooperated with the orchestra. To name just a few: Jacob de Haan, Peter Kleine Schaars and Johan de Meij from The Netherlands, Dr Alfred Reed from the USA, Manfred Schneider from Germany, Peter Cibulka, Johann Mösenbichler and Thomas Doos from Austria, and Roger Bourty from France. In the last couple of years, the orchestra has made recordings with one of the world's leading companies specialising in music for woodwind orchestra, De Haske from the Netherlands.