The Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic

Security and prevention

Minorities and Policing

Within the Ministry of Interior the Security Policy Department is responsible for the coordination of tasks flowing from the Strategy for the work of the Czech Police with minorities. The main task is to draft, evaluate and update this document, whose first version - National strategy for the work of the Czech Police with national and ethnic minorities - was agreed in the beginning of 2003. The Strategy for the work of the Czech Police with minorities for the period 2006 - 2007 was adopted by the Czech Government on 11 January 2006 by way of its resolution No. 49. The objective of the Strategy is to make the policing toward minorities more effective and to ensure a quality attitude of the police officers when dealing with minorities. The focus of the Strategy is on police training, rigorous exercise of anti-discrimination procedures in policing and crime prevention in minority communities. The emphasis is also very much on the collaboration of police with local authorities and non-governmental sector.

The Department's task is also the information gathering in the field of minority policing, information analysis and detailed monitoring of fulfilment of the tasks set in the Strategy. Within the bounds of its competence the Department participates in the provision of organizational conditions for the police earmarked for the work with minorities and in some specific activities of the ministerial and police units that deal with this issue (the Department gives methodical help with projects at the local level, it takes part in round tables, seminars etc.). It also organizes a number of workshops for experts from within and outside the Ministry and specialized courses for police officers. In 2004 and 2005 in collaboration with the Dutch centre for international police cooperation (NCIPS) we had successfully implemented the project Phare Twinning Light CZ02/IB/JH/02-TL named “Strategy of the police work with minorities”. The aim of the project was to provide a quality background for the police from those regions that are particularly exposed in terms of preparing local activities in the area of minority policing.

In 2005 the Department issued a handbook called “Police officer in a multicultural environment”. The booklet provides the police with basic information about the most numerous minorities living in the Czech Republic, about their religious and cultural differences, customs and traditions, and it offers a number of hints how to deal with the members of minorities while respecting their differences. In terms of security aspects of minorities integration the Department cooperates with a number of non-governmental organizations, in particular when it comes to training activities, participation in the drafting of expert documents and conducting qualitative surveys that concentrate on mapping of the crime that affects the minority communities.

• Documents