NEXTA: There’s Also System's Fault In Traffic Police Officer's Death

Publicity and showmaking are more important in the Belarusian police, than the real fight against crime.

The NEXTA Telegram-channel writes about, commenting on the abduction and murder of the traffic police officer:

"While they are looking for murderers, the police officers write to us. Both former and acting ones. We can't quote all the letters, but they contain a lot of pain. The main idea is that the unknown killers are not the only ones who are guilty of the tragic death. The system itself, in which publicity and showing are more important than the real fight against crime, is also to blame.

– I would call this death on duty "the fruit of the optimization," – one of the employees said. – The Ministry of Internal Affairs is now in a situation of catastrophic shortage of people, which means that we have to break instructions and work with the risk to our lives. In addition to the planned reduction in the number of staff, the mandatory polygraph inspection has also been carried out, which has led to a catastrophic shortage of district police officers and traffic police officers. It got to a point where we practice tours of duty to neighbouring districts.

Why do Belarusian policemen fail so often when they are tested on polygraph? This has been explained to us by another officer, who also wants to remain anonymous.

– I work as a policeman in a small town, and there are only two of us, where 12 people are supposed to work, – he writes. – We sleep literally 3-4 hours a day, because not only do we have to deal with all the cases, but also we have to do a lot of paperwork, double-check everything. Otherwise, we get admonitions. And we understand why the murdered guy went to the investigation alone – just because such young people are given all the hard and dirty work. A partner who is "higher" in rank and experience will not be sent with him. And with the polygraph, it's all very simple: it's the consequences of the attempts to remain human. For example, sometimes a driver stopped for a minor violation on the road "shares" 4-5 liters of gasoline or diesel fuel with a traffic policeman. This is not a bribe – just not enough fuel is allocated to do all the work. But when checking at the polygraph, there are suspicions, and officers have to part with the service.

In addition, policemen say, the "optimization" refers to "street infantry," those who have to fight crime and protect citizens. The ideologists, propagandists, financiers, rear workers, and great specialists in doing paperwork and shouting at subordinates were not touched by the layoffs in the Shunevich style for some reason. We all saw the direct result of such personnel policy yesterday. However, those who make decisions, do not get under the bullets themselves and do not walk alone along the highway, but sit in cozy headquarters," – NEXTA notes.