Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic has said that the new national police director will be appointed upon the adoption of amendments to the Police Act which should improve the efficiency of the police system and upgrade the cooperation with the state prosecutorial authorities.
"Given that the draft of amendments is ready and will soon go into procedure, I see no reason for hasty appointments," Ostojic told a news briefing in his office on Tuesday.
Ostojic said that he had appointed as his advisors: Oliver Grbic after he was recently relieved of duty of national police director, as well as former ministry spokesman Krunoslav Borovec, former interior ministry chief of staff Dubravko Novak, and Davor Blazevic, who was suspended from the post of assistant police director-general and head of the Department for Special Security Operations after he had allegedly contacted Ivo Sanader, a suspect charged with serious crimes. Blazevic used to be Sanader's bodyguard when he was Prime Minister.
Jelena Bikic succeeded Borovec in the post of the ministry spokesperson.
Minister Ostojic said that the changed police legislature would retain all good aspects of the previous law and that the changes would mainly refer to the reduction of advisors and directors in offices, with an increase of personnel deployed on the streets.
"With a good organisation we can reach the optimum number of police officers on the beat and we will not need to talk any more about a surplus," the new Croatian interior minister said, adding that, for instance, the introduction of the Schengen regime in Croatia requires 4,800 police officers on the country's border.
