Law enforcement in Montenegro is primarily the responsibility of the Police Directorate (Uprava Policije).
All units of the Police Directorate report to the Police Director. Police Directorate of Montenegro is a law enforcement agency under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Interior. Ministry maintains direct control over internal affairs, issuance of personal documents for Montenegrin citizens (ID, drivers licence and passport), emergency situations management, human resources, financial and budgetary management of Police Directorate. Thus, regarding law enforcement matters, the role of the Minister of the Interior is supervisory, and he has no operational authority over police officers.
On a national level, Police Directorate organized into 5 departments, which are main operational units of police, each headed by Deputy Police Director, while 3 sections and 4 units serve in a support and administrative tasks:
In addition to police departments, there are seven additional organizational units, for support and administrative tasks on a national level:
For direct execution of law enforcement tasks on the territory of Montenegro, 8 Regional Police Units (Područne Jedinice Policije) exist:
Police of Montenegro is legally governed by Law on Internal Affairs of Montenegro (Zakon o unutrašnjim poslovima). In criminal matters, Police is also bound to adhere to Criminal procedure law of Montenegro (Zakonik o krivičnom postupku), and its officers are required to conduct criminal investigations per instructions of Montenegrin public prosecutors.
The Police Directorate has 4,282 employees in 2020:
Public law and order officer on duty is usually equipped with a side gun (usually a Glock 17, CZ 99 are phased out), a pair of handcuffs, a police baton, and a Motorola TETRA MTP 850 S radio communication device.
The Police Directorate operates a fleet of road vehicles, numbering 470 in 2016. Standard patrol car is a white Opel Astra J saloon, although various other vehicles are also operating, notably Dacia Dusters as Border police patrol cars. Special police units are usually seen in Land Rover Defender off-road vehicles and BOV-M armoured vehicles.
Police Headquarters building is located on 22 Svetog Petra Cetinjskog Boulevard, in central Podgorica. It was erected in 2010 and has 9,360 m2 (100,800 sq ft) of office space, and also houses Podgorica Regional Police Unit. In Podgorica, aside from the new headquarters building, Police of Montenegro uses the old Ministry of the Interior building (located next to the new one), the "limenka" ("the can") building, logistics complex in Zagorič suburb and Special Units training camp in Zlatica suburb.
The Police Academy is located in Danilovgrad, and provides both basic police education, and professional and specialized training. 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.[1] Aviation unit also operates two Augusta-Bell AB412. All helicopters are based at Golubovci Airport, Podgorica.[2]
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 photos of police officers torturing prisoners.[3][4] The report cited various instances of alleged mistreatment of prisoners ranging from slaps, kicks and punches to the head to 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).[5][6][7]