From growing up in the Bjelave Children's Home to becoming a police officer: Nuno Bajrić is one of 238 new employees of the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton

(Patria) - Twenty-six-year-old Nuno Bajrić put on a new police uniform for the first time on Sunday and solemnly swore to serve the citizens of the Sarajevo Canton, protecting their lives and property and caring for their safety. He is one of 238 police officers of the Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton who have been at their new workplaces since today, hired based on a competition announced in 2024.

Nuno Bajrić's life story is different, difficult but also inspiring, and he, hoping to encourage others to choose this honorable profession, decided to share it with everyone.

Nuno grew up without parents and at the age of only two was placed in the Bjelave Children's Home, where he stayed until he was 17. This institution provided him with maximum love and support in life and was a wind at his back in achieving his life goals. And his greatest dream and only goal was to become a police officer.

His path was thorny. From the age of 18, he applied to various competitions four times, but despite excellent physical fitness and knowledge, he was never accepted. When he almost gave up on his dream, friends persuaded him to apply for last year's competition of the Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton for the recruitment of 250 police officers.

„I thought it would be like before. I passed all the tests and the interview, and when they published the final list, I saw that I had 0 points. That demotivated me, but this time it was really different,“ Nuno begins his story.

„When I was called to take the general knowledge test, I relied on what I learned at the faculty and prepared for about five days earlier, through applications that make preparing for this test easier. We took it electronically, we got the questions only when we arrived at the exam, and no one could help anyone. I passed without any problems. The physical fitness test was the easiest part for me because I have been involved in sports all my life. I passed everything, and when I saw my name on the list of accepted candidates, honestly, I couldn't believe it.“

He says that in conversation with cadets who were in training at the Police Academy, he realized that they share the same experiences. Mostly, they are girls and boys who have had several unsuccessful attempts at employment in other police agencies and security bodies where they received rejections and lost trust in the system and equal opportunities for everyone.

„Among our generation, there are many cadets from other cantons: Zenica-Doboj, Central Bosnia, Bosnian Podrinje, we are all from different families, some with weaker financial status, and for us, this is a great chance and opportunity that we will not squander,“ says Nuno.

He decided on a risky operation

This final-year student of Security and Peace Studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences has fought a lot through life to reach his goal. The last obstacle was a medical examination which found that he had a vision impairment that would prevent him from working in the police. He then decided on a very risky operation where there was a 50% chance of completely losing his sight. His motivation and strength were stronger than any obstacle, and he recovered successfully, jokingly saying that now he sees better than ever.

When asked what his message is to young people, he answers without hesitation: „I would like others to follow my example. To never give up and to go towards their goal!“.

It took him several years to reach his goal, and during that time he studied and worked various jobs, including the hardest physical ones, in construction. That is why today Nuno proudly wears the police uniform and plans to one day reach his first rank in the police.

His friends and those he grew up with in the Bjelave Children's Home are still a wind at his back, so they proudly attended the solemn oath-taking ceremony and were among the first to congratulate him.

The Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton conducts open and transparent competitions

Thanks to amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs and the Law on Police Officers, the Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton conducts transparent, fair, and correct procedures for hiring police officers.

All candidates take a general knowledge test for which questions are available on the website of the Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton. After that, a physical fitness test is taken, each phase of the recruitment is recorded, and any possibility of manipulation is excluded. This is followed by medical examinations, then the collection of official data for candidates who have met the requirements, e.g., whether criminal proceedings are pending, data on no criminal record, and the like, and at the end of all these procedures, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) must conduct security checks for all candidates. This methodology was praised by Transparency International and recommended to other police agencies in the country.

The Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton will announce a public competition for the recruitment of an additional 220 police officers by the end of this year.