# Police Directorate of Montenegro

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The Police Directorate of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Управа полиције Црне Горе, romanized: Uprava Policije Crne Gore) is the national police of Montenegro.

## Organization

Police Directorate of Montenegro is a law enforcement agency within Ministry of Interior, maintaining full operational independence in police matters, while Ministry is responsible for budgetary matters, administrative issues, human resources management and oversight roles (Internal affairs, Disciplinary Commission, Board of Ethics).
Police Directorate is headed by the Director of Police Directorate, appointed by the Minister of Interior for a five-year term, based on the outcome of public application and selection process. Officers directly subordinate to the director are deputy directors, each heading a department with national jurisdiction; as well as heads of regional police units, responsible for local law enforcement duties within territorial jurisdiction of their Regional police unit.
Application process for director and deputy directors is open for public prosecutors, judges and officers of both military of Montenegro and National Security Agency of Montenegro, with specific stipulations regarding experience in management roles; while all other heads of internal subdivisions can only be appointed from senior police officer cadre.
Currently valid Bylaw on Organization and structure of the Ministry of Interior defines Police Directorate with five departments and four regional units:
* General police department
* Criminal investigations department
* Border police department
* Special purpose police department
* Financial intelligence unit
Regional police units are
* Regional police unit South (Subdivisions Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Ulcinj)
* Regional police unit West (Subdivisions Nikšić, Pljevlja, Šavnik, Žabljak, Plužine)
* Regional police unit North (Subdivisions Bijelo Polje, Berane, Mojkovac, Kolašin, Plav, Rožaje, Andrijevica, Petnjica, Gusinje)
* Regional police unit Center (Subdivisions Podgorica, Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Tuzi, Zeta)
Besides aforementioned operative subdivisions, Police directorate also has several support units - Forensics Center and units tasked with analytics, external coordination, administration of electronic / digital police assets etc.
Bylaw on Organization and structure of the Ministry of Interior envisions Police Directorate with 5,376 police officers. However, actual number of employed officers is considerably lower, with some departments being chronically understaffed.

## Resources

With one police officer per 141 inhabitants, Montenegro has the second highest number of police officers per capita in Europe, after Monaco.
Police Headquarters building is located on 22 Svetog Petra Cetinjskog Boulevard, Podgorica. It was erected in 2010 and has 9,360 m$^2$ (100,800 sq ft). The Police Academy is located in Danilovgrad, and provides both basic police education, and professional and specialized training. The Forensic Center is also located in Danilovgrad.
Montenegro's Civil Police Aviation Unit forms part of the Montenegro Government Aviation Unit, and purchased its first aircraft in 1972, with three more SA341 Gazelles transferred from the military air force in the 1990s. Aviation unit also operates two Augusta-Bell AB412. All helicopters are based at Golubovci Airport, Podgorica.

## Police directors

* Veselin Veljović (October 2005 – December 2011)
* Božidar Vuksanović (December 2011 – February 2013, acting director)
* Slavko Stojanović (February 2013 – March 2018)
* Vesko Damjanović (March 2018 – July 2018, acting director)
* Veselin Veljović (July 2018 – December 2020)
* Vesko Damjanović (December 2020 – February 2021, acting director)
* Zoran Brđanin (February 2021 – March 2023)
* Nikola Terzić (March 2023 – December 2023, acting director)
* Zoran Brđanin (December 2023 – March 2024)
* Aleksandar Radović (March 2024 – July 2024, acting director)
* Zoran Brđanin (July 2024 – December 2024)
* Lazar Šćepanović (December 2024 - present, acting director)

## Ranks
### Officers

| | Police Executive | Police Executive | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors | Police Inspectors |
| Montenegro | | | | | | | | | |
| Montenegro | Direktor policije | Pomoćnik direktora policije | Glavni policijski inspektor | Viši policijski inspektor I klase | Viši policijski inspektor | Samostalni policijski inspektor | Policijski inspektor I klase | Policijski inspektor | Mlađi policijski inspektor |
| Montenegro | Police Director | Deputy Police Director | Chief Police Inspector | Senior Police Inspector I class | Senior Police Inspector | Independent Police Inspector | Police Inspector I class | Police Inspector | Junior Police Inspector |

### Enlisted

| | Police Sergeants | Police Sergeants | Police Sergeants | Police Officers | Police Officers | Police Officers |
| Montenegro | | | | | | |
| Montenegro | Stariji policijski narednik I klase | Stariji policijski narednik | Policijski narednik | Stariji policajac I klase | Stariji policajac | Policajac |
| Montenegro | Senior Police Sergeant I class | Senior Police Sergeant | Police Sergeant | Senior Police Officer I class | Senior Police Officer | Police Officer |

## History
### Controversies

In June 2023, the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe urged Montenegro to investigate police brutality. Europol published a report on 23 March 2022 that included photographs of policemen torturing prisoners. The report cited various instances of alleged mistreatment of prisoners including falaka, genital torture, electrical shocks, asphyxiation as well as threats of rape and threats against the children and other family members of prisoners. In response, the Montenegrin government has expressed willingness to follow the recommendations brought forward by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).