BELGRADE – The trust of Serbian citizens in the police increased to 52 percent over the past few years, show the results of a survey carried out by the Regional network of civilian society organisations Pointplus.

For the first time, the percentage of people who trust the police is higher than the number of citizens who do not have confidence in the police, and now 52 percent of people trust the police while 48 percent of the population does not have confidence in the police, researcher of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy Sasa Djordjevic said during the news conference on Wednesday.

The survey produced two results which constitute reason for concern, one being the fact that 78 percent of people in Serbia see corruption as normal and widespread even in the police, and only 4 percent of Serbian citizens believe that there is no corruption in police lines, he said.

He added that another survey result which gives ground to concern is the fact that citizens often offer bribes to traffic wardens of their own will.

The fault for this problem does not rest on citizens only, it is also partially the doing of traffic wardens as they eventually agree to accept the bribe, Djordjevic said.

The survey has shown that the police service is one of five most corrupt institutions, the list of which also includes healthcare, judiciary, market inspection and customs office, researcher of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCBP) Sasa Djordjevic said during the news conference on Wednesday.

The survey was carried out among 1,205 interviewees aged above 18, Djordjevic said and added that the data was gathered in June.

InSerbia

24 July 2015