BiH Border Police lacks 460 officers: Can it adequately respond to security challenges?

In 2016, the Border Police of BiH will focus on combating organized cross-border crime, illegal migrations and terrorism, but according to current capacities, they lack more than 460 police officers, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

This information was confirmed by the Director of the Border Police of BiH, Zoran Galić, stating that the number of retired or suspended police officers is increasing, and they need personnel reinforcements for the further development of the agency and improvement of results.

- In 2016, we want to achieve better results in preventing the transfer of narcotics across the state border. Among the priorities, we have placed the strengthening of the criminal-intelligence component of the BiH Border Police. The activities and tasks assigned to the BiH Border Police by competent institutions are increasing, especially with BiH's aspiration to become an EU member – Galić pointed out.

Given the security challenges faced by the countries of the region, including BiH, during the refugee crisis, terrorist threats, and drug trafficking, when it is necessary to strengthen surveillance at border crossings, the question is how ready this institution is to respond to all challenges.

As announced, in cooperation with experts from the German Federal Police, employees of the BiH Border Police are working on drafting a new rulebook on internal organization, which would reduce the number of managerial officers and increase the number of experts from various fields.