A country that does not protect its police officers does not protect its citizens: Why entity police forces are strengthening while state ones are weakening

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

While the debate between trade unions and proponents of amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH has been ongoing for months, few want to face the truth. Police agencies at the state level, such as SIPA, the Border Police of BiH, and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, are among the least desirable employers in the security-police sector today.

Destructive policies have, in the most effective way, rendered the state meaningless through the systemic weakening of its institutions. This is most clearly seen in the example of state-level police agencies. Instead of being the most desirable employer in the security sector, police officers are increasingly moving to entity and cantonal ministries of internal affairs due to extremely low salaries. At this moment, even with a potential increase in coefficients, a police officer of the Federal Police Administration would have a higher salary than a colleague at the state level.

Such a policy is not accidental. It is systemic and long-term, and its consequences are devastating. A country that does not value its own institutions and their employees is consciously pushing them to the margins. When a state-level police officer has a lower salary than a colleague in an entity or canton, a clear message is sent that the state is weaker, less important, and less valuable.

Therefore, the entity Minister of Internal Affairs, Ramo Isak, while publicly boasting about the conditions in the Federal Police Administration, should reflect on the broader context and the higher level of government, which is above the entity level. However, lower levels of government behave as if everyone has their own country. It is superfluous to write about Republika Srpska; their goals have long been clear.

But what about the state authorities? They clearly have no understanding. For years, warnings from trade unions, reports of cadre departures, declining motivation, and increasingly difficult working conditions have been ignored. Instead of strengthening the state level, as required by European standards and actual security needs, it is being systematically depleted.

The highest quality personnel are moving to places where salaries are higher and working conditions are better, while state police agencies remain understaffed, weakened, and demotivated. At the same time, entity and cantonal police forces are recording continuous increases in salaries, bonuses, and benefits. This not only deepens the differences within the system but also further cements the political message that decentralization of power is more important than a functional state.

If you want to weaken a state, you don't have to change the constitution or make dramatic political decisions. It is enough to undermine its institutions from within through budgets, salaries, and the status of employees. This is precisely what is happening today with state-level police agencies.

And a country that cannot protect its own officers will, in the long run, be unable to protect its citizens either.