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Albanian Police Academy Closes its Doors

03 09 2007  Tirana_ The Albanian police notified on Sunday that a year after its inception the Policy Academy will stop recruiting new cadets this year owing to the high number of officers currently active in the force.

The temporary closure of the academy came only one month after the Ministry of Interior came under fire from the European Union Police Assistance Mission in Albania, PAMECA, over its restructuring of the force.

The European Commission advisors to Albania’s police force criticized a government restructuring of the force, saying they were concerned over the way some officers were being forced out; opposition politicians say this was designed to advance police loyal to the ruling party.

PAMECA said in a news release in July that the Interior Ministry needed to be more transparent on how and why officers were being hired, fired and promoted.

PAMECA provides strategic advice and specialized technical training to the Albanian police over crime prevention, organized crime, terrorism and border management.

“The moving of officers through the system should be made in a transparent and justified manner,” PAMECA said. “There have been a lot of transfers and firings of officers lately, which has struck key sectors of the state police, which are essential for the integration of the country with European institutions.”

The restructuring has led to the loss of officers that donors had spent considerable amounts of money on training, the European police advisors said.

Interior Minister Bujar Nishani in June defended changes to the organization of several police divisions, which he said “would make the force more productive in the fight against organized crime and trafficking”.