Merit or Partisan Led Police? [policy study]
The research “Merit or Partisan Led Police?” covers the problem of selection, recruitment and employment of police officers and the failure to provide a career development system based on merit and qualifications at all levels (strategic, tactical and operational) in the Macedonian Ministry of Interior and the Police.
This analysis particularly focuses on the link between education and the merit based system, or more precisely, on the importance of higher professional police education, which candidates and officers have and how such education is valued within the existing merit based system at the police service by in-line committees in the course of procedures for selection, recruitment and promotion.
Not ensuring the establishment and functioning of a merit based system calls into question not only the efficiency and professionalism of police officers, but it also allows inefficient spending of the budget of the Ministry, giving as well rise to conflicts of interest, corruption, erosion of the public trust in the police, etc. This document also contains certain recommendations for defining sustainable solutions facilitating the application of the merit-based system in the selection, recruitment and promotion at the Macedonian police service.
The relevance of the analysis and recommendations offered by this document which are related to one of the most important segments of the police organization and functioning is further emphasized by taking into account the lack of satisfactory results of long-standing legal and organizational reforms for restructuring of the Macedonian police forces in accordance with the principles of a democratic and civic-oriented civil service. The non-functional separation of state power and the widespread phenomena of influence of political parties on the law enforcement agencies have strongly affected the functioning and the organizational setup of the Macedonian police. In addition to the need to establish a national and political consensus for establishing an system based on merit and qualifications at all levels of the Ministry of Interior and the police, the process of harmonization with the EU legislation makes additional pressure for immediate overcoming of the practices of unprofessional and irresponsible functioning of the Macedonian police.
The research “Merit or Partisan Led Police?” whose author is Aleksandar Vancoski МА, is funded by the Think Tank Young Professional Development Program for young researchers. The author as part of the European policy Institute (EPI) Skopje team have undertaken the research activities in 2017.
Study:
MK: PDF
Policy brief:
- [policy brief] Merit or Partisan Led Police? [.pdf 330KB]
