Who benefits from the amendments to the Law on Police Officers: Unions against the proposal for police officers to work until age 65

The amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH, submitted to the procedure by state deputies Jasmin Imamović, Predrag Kojović, and Nihad Omerović (Trojka), do not have the support of the Union of Police Bodies, which includes SIPA, GP BiH, and DKPT.

Last week, a meeting was held between representatives of the Union of Police Bodies and these deputies, where it was clearly stated that the proposed amendments to the law are not acceptable to police officers.

The president of the SIPA Union, Edin Kahrimanović, who was the first to react with a public statement, points out that these are amendments that were clearly tailored by managers for themselves.

„A police officer with 40 years of service can be granted work until the age of 65 at their request. Can a police officer at the age of 65 really perform all duties, I ask the deputies. Can a boss from the office. Yes, they can,” said Kahrimanović.

On the other hand, it is also controversial that the proposed amendments leave room for discrimination because managers will have the right to create a list of necessary positions. In that case, the director is the one who decides who they need and who they don't after meeting the conditions for retirement.

Another meeting with the proposers of the amendments to the law will be held this week. The position of the SIPA Union is that the amendments to the law should be rejected, and a working group should be formed to analyze the entire law in a short period, after which further steps will be determined. In addition to extending the working life for police officers, the method of promotion should also be changed. The question also arises as to how to motivate police officers to remain in service, whether they have the right to advance after acquiring the right to a pension, whether they are subject to disciplinary proceedings. The proposed amendments are not in line with the provisions of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance either, which is an additional reason for rejecting the amendments.

What is particularly interesting is that these three state deputies do not have any data on how many police officers will retire next year, nor have such data been provided to them.

And precisely these days, state deputy Šemsudin Mehmedović is receiving responses from state police agencies stating that they do not have police officers who meet the conditions for retirement and that the lists are regularly updated. In these responses, not a single director from the three state agencies pointed out that they might be left without a certain number of police officers in the coming period, which opens up room for suspicion that these "urgent" amendments originated from the very top of the police agencies because certain cadres with rank must retire.

A. Vrabac