Increasing the transparency of the police is not viable if the Serbian public are made aware of current crime rates and the effectiveness of the police only by the Minister of Internal Affairs.
The publication of crime statistics contributes to increased police transparency and accountability. On the basis of these data the public are able to assess the effectiveness of the police in crime fighting and prevention as well as with regards to fighting corruption within its own ranks. In this way the police can show that they have nothing to hide from the public, which in turn increases public trust in the police.
Most records collected by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) are labelled ‘classified’ and are not publically available. This is why MUP should regularly report, annually at the very least, detailed statistics on crime rates as collected by regional police directorates across the country.
These MUP reports should include information on the following: the distribution of all types of crimes and other offences at national, regional and local levels; the rate of prosecution by regional police directorates (PU); the variation in crime rates by PU or by city, municipality and city municipality across Serbia; figures for reported, solved and dismissed crimes; the numbers of complaints filed against the police, broken down by PU or by city, municipality and city municipality.
Civil society organizations
dedicated to oversight of police integrity.