A new organisational structure of the police at a regional level will take effect on 1 June. The "Libra" restructuring project was presented today on 31 May 2001 at a press conference.
As of 1 June, the police force will begin to operate within a new organisational structure composed of eight regional police directorates: Celje, Koper, Kranj, Ljubljana, Maribor, Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica and Novo Mesto. The purpose of the police restructuring at the regional level was to merge the least busy police directorates with larger ones.
Director General of the Police, Janko Goršek
Director General of the Police, Janko Goršek, emphasized that citizens will actually not notice those changes because they will not affect them. "The police officers you encounter every day will remain in your local communities and will continue to serve you and provide assistance, their response time will remain unchanged," said Goršek.
Restructuring of some regional units will enable the police to better tackle security challenges and rebalance its workload. That was one of the main goals of the police restructuring at the regional level. "It is fair that all police employees discharging the same tasks have the same workload for the same pay. Operational and non-operational work of some police directorates was almost incomparable in terms of tackled issued and the number of employees. As of tomorrow, operational units of the restructured police directorates will have additional 68 operational posts, which is equivalent to almost two police stations. We have cut 136 administrative posts, which were mainly related to management and control over the work of operational police officers."
Goals achieved through the "Libra" project:
- personnel shift corresponding to regional security issues,
- balanced organisation at regional level,
- enhanced operational capacities of police by reducing the number of managerial and logistics posts and increasing the number of operational posts,
- more efficient use of labour resources
- providing conditions for reducing the effects of the post-Schengen era.
By restructuring six police directorates to merge into three directorates, the police reduced the number of posts and employees in administrative support units and increased the number of posts and employees in operational units. Nevertheless, criminal investigators, traffic police and service dog handlers will continue to serve in the same local environment as before the restructuring.
From the security point of view, the effects of restructuring in the territory of the former directorates will be positive because the restructured police directorates will have more police officers directly carrying out operational tasks in their respective territories. In addition, there will be more police officers serving in police stations.
REGIONAL POLICE RESTRUCTURING IN FIGURESPolice directorates have decreased in number from 11 to 8. The number of classified posts in the police force will decrease by 57 posts (of which 54 in administrative units and 3 in operational units). Administrative units of the restructured police directorates will decrease by 136 posts: 73 posts have been transferred to operational units of the restructured directorates, 7 to the Ljubljana police directorate and 3 to the general police directorate, and 54 vacant posts have been abolished (1 post was transferred from an operational unit to an administrative unit). At both local and regional levels, operational units of the restructured police directorates have been allocated additional 68 posts and additional 74 transferred civil servants, namely:
The cost of new employment and 18-month training corresponding to the number of operational employees obtained by the police through restructuring would amount to about 1,000,000.00 euros. The restructured Celje police directorate has a total of 53 fewer classified posts and 37 fewer occupied posts at the regional level. 42 posts and 36 civil servants have been transferred from regional to local level (of which 25 posts and 21 civil servants to the service dog handlers police station of Celje). The restructured Novo Mesto police directorate has a total of 60 fewer classified posts and 39 fewer occupied posts at the regional level. 43 posts and 39 civil servants have been transferred from regional to local level (of which 21 posts and 18 civil servants to the service dog handlers police station of Novo Mesto). The restructured Koper police directorate has a total of 72 fewer classified posts and 43 fewer occupied posts at the regional level. 39 posts and 37 civil servants have been transferred from regional to local level (of which 19 posts and 18 civil servants to the service dog handlers police station of Koper). The restructuring of the Koper police directorate resulted in a transfer of 6 civil servants to the Ljubljana police directorate (of which 4 to the regional level and 2 to the local level - police stations). The police station of Cerknica (with 76 classified and 64 occupied posts) has become attached to the Ljubljana police directorate. Due to restructuring, the annual bonuses for position will decrease by 10,479.92 euros. Due to restructuring, 147 civil servants will commute to work to another place. Annual travel allowances are expected to rise by 342,000.00 euros (medium value between the minimum and maximum amount). Relocation of some units will generate investment costs amounting to 60,000.00 euros and material costs amounting to 17,000.00 euros. Annual lease of additional premises for the Celje police directorate will amount to 60,000.00 euros. This cost is not entirely related to restructuring because additional premises would be needed anyway. The police will no longer need one of its buildings, valued at 155,200.00 euros. The building will be sold. The police will no longer need three leased premises and will therefore denounce three lease agreements totalling 80,272.00 euros. Due to the disposal of buildings, annual working expenses will decrease by 19,230.00 euros. In total, the costs incurred through restructuring will amount to about 825,000.00 euros and 1,265,181.92 euros of savings will be generated. By adding up the costs and the savings, a total of 440,181.92 euros will be saved. |
Police employees who will, as of 1 June, serve in the restructured police directorates of Celje, Koper and Novo Mesto and in the Cerknica police station within the Ljubljana police directorate have been duly issued with annexes to their employment contracts. No employee has been dismissed, demoted or deprived of their official title due to restructuring. However, former heads of units no longer benefit from a leadership bonus due to a reduced number of organisational units and managerial posts.
"I am aware that many employees affected by the organisational changes will also have to adapt to a new working environment, such as a different work location or different tasks assigned. But no one will be laid off," emphasised Goršek.
The issue of long-term manpower surplus in some regional units will be tackled through natural staff turnover. Once no longer occupied due to retirement or other reasons, some posts in the restructured police directorates will be either transferred to local operational units or abolished. A transition period will last for some years and will enable us to avoid laying off employees.
"Together with directors of police directorates we made considerable effort to take into consideration personal circumstances when making decisions on personnel shift. Therefore short-term positive financial effects will be less pronounced than they could be. Despite that and despite higher travel allowances, which are inevitable, and some other expenses related to the implementation of that project, we will save a total of at least 440,000 euros, which is not insignificant," said the Director General of the Police.
All legal instruments required for regional police restructuring and the implementation of the Libra project have been adopted, namely: the Ordinance on the establishment, territories and head offices of police directorates in the Republic of Slovenia issued by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the Rules on territories and head offices of police directorates issued by the Minister of the Interior, and the Act regulating internal organisation, job classification, posts, and titles in the police force issued by the Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
All necessary material and technical conditions for a smooth operation of the restructured police directorates have also been provided. Some investment projects relating in particular to an upgrade of the information and telecommunications system and to additional premises are still underway. Those investment projects would have been launched regardless of the Libra project, but the latter only boosted them.
"We live and work in a time of complex social developments in the international and national arena. The police, too, have to adapt to them. In particular we have to adapt our work processes and organisational structure to that new dynamics, since the security standards of the society we serve are increasingly high and expectations of our citizens are reasonably big. The mission of us all serving in the police is clear! Our society gave us a mandate to maintain public peace and safety and it provides us, within it means, with resources needed for that. Unfortunately, we are facing a situation where those resources are limited. We need to adapt to it like all other segments of the public administration in order to be able to maintain the security standard we are proud of and which is comparable to the one in well-developed European countries."