Ventspils, Madona, Varakļāni, Augšdaugava, Līvāni and Rēzekne municipalities, as well as Rēzekne City, were the only municipalities without their municipal police until now. Amendments to the law came into force on January 1, stipulating that local government police in each local government must be mandatory.
In Madona, municipal police began working as early as August, while as of January 1, Madona merged with Varakļāni, creating a joint municipal police force.
The Administrative Inspectorate, which was established in Rēzekne municipality two years ago, has just been reorganized as the municipal police.
Formally, as of January 1, the municipal police are in place also in the municipality of Augšdaugava, Ventspils, Līvāni and Rēzekne, but there is still work to be done, because in some places the competition for the place of the local government police chief has only been announced, elsewhere it has already concluded, but the team has not yet been assembled.
The police chief of Rezekne local government Vitālijs Podgaiskis, who had his first day in office on January 2, admitted that he does not have subordinates for the time being, one of his main tasks is to announce a tender for job positions.
Local governments have been hesitant for so long because they hoped that due to lack of finances, this amendment to the law could be delayed or receive additional funding from the state. However, no extension was given, so the money should be sought in the local government budget.
The different opportunities of municipalities in allocating funding to municipal police raise concerns about unequal levels of security in different localities. The Ministry of the Interior denies any issues, saying that both the State Police and the State Security Service will continue to engage in maintaining public safety and fighting crime in the same way as before.
