Clan Lt Polizia

CLAN_INDEX OF THE RESEARCH_LITHUANIA Kaunas Police CLAN

CLAN – Continuous Learning for Adults with Needs 134649-LLP-1-2007-1-IT-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Grant Agreement 2007-3569/001-001 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

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The structure of the clan. The survey was conducted to 40 employees of different police departments in Kaunas, Lithuania. Among them the focus group consists of 8 police officers. The interviewed employees were from the Subdivisions of the public police in Kaunas: Service of traffic supervision-7 persons Service of public order -14 persons Combined patrol team- 6 persons Juveniles centre of Social care and prevention -5 persons The interviewers of this research and the focus group members

differ in their

ranks in the departments. According to the ranks the clan members fell under the following categories: ranks Policemen

Number of persons interviewed 26

Police officers

7

Managers

4

Vice- commissioners

2

Commissioners

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DESCRIPTION OF THE CLAN The police of the Republic of Lithuania is an executive institution which acts according to “ The Law on Police” ( passed on 11 December 1990 by Seimas) The Law on the Police provides for general and special rights and duties of police officers. A police officer, at all times and places, must take urgent measures, upon witnessing a crime or any other violation of the law being committed, or upon receiving a report from a citizen or an officer concerning such an act, to stop the crime or violation that is being committed; take measures

to

apprehend

persons

guilty of committing a crime or other

violation of the law and to bring them to police quarters upon receiving a report from a citizen or officer concerning the commission of such a deed; report information concerning socially harmful deeds to the police upon the

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knowledge of such deeds, take measures to protect the scene of the incident, and ascertain witnesses of the crime; ensure the protection of the rights, legal interests, and health of persons who are arrested and

brought

to

police

quarters, and provide first aid to victims of law violations and persons who are in a helpless state; take all possible measures to save the property of citizens, event

the state,

of

public

organizations,

and

other organizations in the

natural calamity, catastrophe, accidents,

or

other

emergency

situations, etc. In carrying out their duties, police officers must respect and preserve the dignity of the people, and must ensure and protect their rights and freedoms. Thus the activity of a police officer is a very specific one. He/she must behave and act as a representative of authority, protect legitimate interests of people, society and the state, she/he has always follow "The Code of Honor

of Officers" (The Law on Police ,article 3) Violation

of

the

said

requirements is to be condemned, as well as it incurs moral and disciplinary responsibility. Sociological description

It goes without saying that the main aspect of this profession and work is communication between the society and the police professionals. Regrettably, there is little trust in the police from citizens, as often it is the case that people have contacts with officers in situations of violation of regulations and law (on roads, in dealing with property) and in crime. Very often this sort of

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communication results either in a strict warning, imposing fines, law enforcement, custody or establishing offences, therefore all these produce negative emotions in people. Even when the people are offenders themselves, a bad reputation of the police officer is being spread among population. Also, there are lots of crimes that are

unrevealed

and

criminals

not

punished

(certainly

due

to

different

circumstances), which also contributes a lot to the negative image and attitude towards the police. The police officers revealed that even working with children at school they perceive children’s negative attitude and preconceived mindset. The policemen believe that this bad image has been created to a greater extent by the media which seek for the negative and sensational as well as by the individuals who had unpleasant personal contacts with police officers, such as in traffic events, cases of hooliganism, etc. Also, people/offenders seek for privileges in such occurrences while police officers have to turn to the law. Therefore our Project partners highlighted the need of being trained professionally how to deal with this unfavourable situation when, on the one hand, they have to keep to the Statute and, on the other hand, have no right for an individual choice of solution of any problem (The Law on Police Activity passed 27 October 2000) Limitations of the Police Work Functioning in the police work means abstaining from participation in political life and activities of the country. Taking part in going on strikes or extra work ( except in education) and being paid additional salary ( despite the fact that salaries are low) is also prohibited in the regulations for any policeman. Moreover, this is also imposed on the officers who are not directly related with prevention of crime, such as secretaries, accountants, operators, etc., anybody employed in the police system. Furthermore, police officers are not allowed to communicate with media without a prior consent of their authorities, relax partying in public as this is considered discrediting them and violation of the professional ethics, also these professionals are not supposed to express their own opinion on problems, events or crime. Sometimes with very dangerous offenders one needs personal courage and determination while special knowledge and skills are not always of help, the laws establish certain guarantees to ensure her/his protection.( Article 2011 of the Criminal Code for resistance against a police officer or police supporter, Article 2031 for an attempt on the life of a police officer or police supporter, Article 187 of

the

Code of Administrative Transgressions of Law for non-

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compliance with a lawful demand of a police officer, as well as that for the insult to his honour and dignity) Benefits of the Police work Currently, as mentioned by the interviewees, there is a number of benefits and social guarantees for policemen. ( Article 48 of the Law on the Police is also to be

attributed

to

social

guarantees.) They are as follows:

*charge-free ride of public transport; * rent for accomodation when relevant papers are provided; *retirement with 20 years of work and retirement age respectively of 50 to 62; *a holiday resort

in Palanga; a training centre and rehabilitation facilities in

Trakai; *every sick-list is covered. * physical training centers, fitness clubs, water pools, sport teams, coaches and instructors. But surprisingly, the salaries are lower due to the lower average life standard attributed to state officers, under which category the policemen and also lawyers are classified. Clan’s demography Both sexes work in this profession but male prevail

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1.77% are married people and have 1 or 2 children 2.15 % are divorced and live alone or with new partners 3.8% are single ANALYSIS OF THE WORK SCHEDULE Typically all employees in the police in Lithuania work in shifts, 3 shifts (on a rota basis) for policemen1 shift + duties(on a rota basis) for managerial staff including night hours.

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Also they have their individual working-hour plans.According to these plans there is a great difference in

the amount of working hours and

days off.

*Generally shifts changes every day or every second day; *Very often people work night hours before days off ; *Their working hours vary according to their job requirements for a certain period of time; *The duties or job profile is also on rotation basis; *Anyone can be asked to come to work even if it is his/her day off which implies to be at work during the weekends or bank holidays too. Their free days can be on Monday or on any other week day. But if there is a certain emergency event in the town and more police forces have to be involved, they have to be at work even on his/her day off (they are compensated later).

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Certainly, people have a possibility to change their schedule on an important event for a family or an individual ( wedding, furneral, illness and consultations at doctor's etc.) Though time table is too much flexible for this profession but in the long run they manage somehow to make equal working conditions to all workers.It was noticed also during the interviews because none of them complained of being overused in work or felt that his days off are not compensated. PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL BARRIERS It is hardly possible for the employees in the police to plan their private and social life activities or plan holidays in advance as most often these are occurance-dependent. When it comes to situations where both a wife and a husband are employed in the police, the private life demands of such a family are often disregarded. It goes without saying that the main aspect of this profession and work is communication between the society and the police professionals. Regrettably, there is little trust in the police from citizens, as often it is the case that people have contacts with officers in situations of violation of regulations and law (on roads, in dealing with property) and in crime. Very often this sort of communication results either in a strict warning, imposing fines, law enforcement, custody or establishing offences, therefore all these produce negative emotions in people. Even when the people are offenders themselves, a bad reputation of the police officer is being spread among population. Also, there are

lots of crimes

that are unrevealed and criminals not punished (certainly due to different circumstances), which also contributes a lot to the negative image and attitude towards the police. The police officers revealed that even working with children at school they perceive children’s negative attitude and preconceived mindset. The policemen believe that this bad image has been created to a greater extent by the media which seek for the negative and sensational as well as by the individuals who had unpleasant personal contacts with police officers, such as in traffic events, cases of hooliganism, etc. Also, people/offenders seek for privileges in such occurrences while police officers have to turn to the law. Journal POLICIJA (police) is the periodical that is published twice a month presents problems encountered in the police system of the country and prevention of crime, discusses hot issues of social life regarding the police work,

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describes dismal situation with accidents on roads, notifies awards granted to the officers or describes events initiated by policemen to bring the population and the police together. After having read those articles we assumed that the journal is much more oriented towards citizens ( mainly to shape a positive attitude towards the police) rather than police professionals , and this opinion was supported by the interviewees. They said they would welcome articles ( or a journal) referring to their professional matters and informing them about the news in the police. This has led to the assumption that most information about the police must be confidential and inaccessible to the public, which maybe in its turn demonstrates mistrust to each other. ANALYSIS OF CRITICALITIES DUE TO A SPECIFIC PROFESSION Social obstacles can be divided into two main categories: internal and external. internal .1 Inefficient work organization

external 1.Shortage in employment

2.Shortage of technologies

2.The

profession

of

the

policeman

should gain 3.Small social benefits more respect among population 4.Professional constrains 3.Poor opportunity to

go on training

5.Poor knowledge of foreign languages

abroad (lack of foreign language skills)

6.Lack

4.Week

of

information

about

social

activities

social

organizations

7.Forbiden

extra

work

(

except

education)

5.Lack of government support to raise the status of profession

no possibilities to earn additional salary

6.Sometimes lack of professionals implement

8.Forbiden communication with media without

professional

a

prior

consent

of

their

authorities 9.Partying discrediting

laws and

to

instructions,

programs and other means in order to gain more respect for profession 7.Lack of public interest for their work

in

public

them

and

is

considered violate

( except extreme situations)

the

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professional ethics

8.Mainly negative media reports

10.Forbiden participation in political life 11.Low individual motivation

With regaining the Independence in 1990s, there was great agiotage about choosing career in the police, as it was the substitution for the soviet militia. Salaries to policemen were made bigger and more social benefits provided (free accommodation, charge-free transport, etc.). However, today these ambitions are over, there is shortage in employment, and the police departments look for ways to recruit more people to this career. And the wish that this profession could gain more respect among population was expressed by the interviewees. Even having been constrained so much in many aspects of their profession, the policemen tend to respect professional obligations and, when asked about possibly changing their career to something with fewer restrictions, they answered they would stick to their employment understanding their role and commitment to the society. In conclusion it could be assumed that inside their profession the policemen are more or less able to reconcile their professional work with leading a normal social life.. GROWING IN THE CLAN – NEEDS FOR LEARNING Professional training that is typically planned and selected by the Ministry of Interior or any police department authorities is conducted fairly often. Within a year trainings are planned 2-3 times, and every professional is supposed to participate in them on a regular basis.Trainings

are

organized

mainly in

professional, technological and language spheres. The disciplines mentioned by the interviewees are the following: Professional sphere

Introduction

into

new

laws & regulations Peculiarities

of

the

Schengen area Juvenile delinquency and

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justice Prevention

of

drug

dealing and addiction Safety at school A new approach to violence against women Kaliningrad area transit First aid skills Physical

and

psychological training for adequacy in crime situations

Technological sphere

Informatics

Language

Foreign language teaching

.( the Provisions of

Schengen Convention

are applied in Lithuania from 21

December 2007 ) With regard to globalization process, the interviewees pointed out that the EU legislation is above the national (September 1, 2004 Lithuania joined Europol Convention and its protocols). However, in some cases it is not best suited for the region and sometimes inappropriate for the Lithuanian situation. In the departments first aid skills training and physical and psychological training for adequacy in crime situations as well as foreign language teaching take place continially. However, mostly employees are forced to participate in the trainings without willingness or choice. They said they would prefer to be instructed more about professional ethics and communication (as they deal with people in their work and more focus on developing social skills is necessary), trained in psychology, civics, public realations and more language courses are absolutely indispensible. Many the officers believe that, at least partially, any of these trainings can add to their personal, social and civic development.

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It has been reported that no specific tools or methods for learning/ development are employed or known by the interviewers.

ICT instruments Throughout

Lithuania

the

police

has

got

the

Internet

connection

and

communication ( though in some replies it was mentioned as insufficient), local intranet and every department has designed its website. However, what regards free use of the Internet at work, it is absolutely restricted if a policeman is having access to the police database . Certainly it is for the sake of security against spreading police information. For the employees therefore it is possible to use WWW only at home, but obviously sharing this access with the family members. This allows little time for an individual to do all the browsing he/she needs. Typically at home the policemen make use of the Internet in searching for information, reviewing news, for communication and playing games but very rarely do anything for professional purposes. Having this sort of situation about using IC technologies and yet claiming that they are „their window to the world“, the police people are restricted in realising themselves as individuals, pursue their needs to learn and develop. Generally

who

among the causes that

enhance the quest for knowledge and learning, the interviewees mentioned personal hobbies, fighting the routine, worthwhile communication and curiosity for innovations. The interviewees reported that their families demonstrate hostility when they disregard the time that should be allocated to household chores, family communication, raising children and discussing family matters or problems, and instead giving it to computer work/browsing. But when ICT is considered and accepted as a leisure time facility for the whole family during holidays or vacations, this hostility disappears. Training needs expressed by interviewees can be divided into the following spheres

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Professional sphere

Professional ethics Communication to develop more social skills Cross cultural management Psychology Public relations

Technological sphere

Civics Innovations in technology Innovations in technical means used in foreign countries

Social sphere

in their profession

Integration skills Competence in understanding non-

verbal

communication

/body

language Time management Knowledge about society Human activity Cross cultural signs(language of signs) Mastering languages Sports and health Speaking about the time they can allot to personal learning and development, they reported doing it partly at their work( if it‘s staying in the office on duty), making use of lunch breaks, on weekends and holidays and also at the time after work.

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Indicators of Success As all interviewees expressed understanding their role and commitment to the society some presumptions for success can be drawn. They are: -

Growing increase of professional requirements from employers and the need in society for qualified service;

-

Governmental and Global promotion of personal development.

-

Individual motivation for self-development

-

The acknowledgment of profession’s situation in the labour market;

-

Career possibilities;

-

Understanding social barrier and readiness to overcome it;

-

Believe that trainings can add to their personal, professional, social and civic development.

The project idea to introduce more flexible self development paradigm are very challenging to all foreign partners and clan members. A new idea offers new learning environment which expand borders and deepen the knowledge going further into globalization processes.

CLAN project scheme

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EU project partners

Police noitisopmoc CLAN NALC tcejorP UTK Composition scheme

KTU project group

Representatives of Subdivisions of the public police

Policemen fromcombined patrol team(6p)

Experimental Group (8 p)

Juveniles centre of Social care &prevention ( 5 p)

Policemen from service of (14p) public order

Policemen of service of traffic supervision (7p)

Stakeholders

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