“Policija“, a three-part TV documentary series on multi-ethnic police training and recruitment, will broadcast weekly from Thursday 13 September on RTV BiH and Friday 14 September on RTRS, at 18:30 h. In order to build a multi-ethnic police force, both the Federation BiH and Republika Srpska Police Academies have been recruiting and training predominantly minority cadets since April 1999. So far, 405 cadets have been trained or are being trained at the Federation BiH Academy in Sarajevo and 422 at the Republika Srpska Academy in Banja Luka. The selection for the next class at the Federation BiH Academy has just been completed. 391 applicants have been tested and some 115 cadets will be selected to start their training on 1 October 2001. This ongoing targeted recruitment and training are part of the UNMIBH Strategy for Minority Police Recruitment and are in support of RRTF’s efforts to accelerate the return of refugees and displaced persons. The TV documentary “Policija”, follows the highs and lows of police cadets in the Banja Luka and Sarajevo academies from their initial application through training and field experience to graduation and their first jobs. As such, it offers an insight into the future of policing in BiH through the eyes of new recruits, many of whom are returning to work in their pre-war municipalities:
- Episode 1 “Decision”: Potential recruits are about to make a big decision – whether or not to apply for the police academy. What will their parents or friends say? Will they be called for testing ? And of those who are called, who will be chosen?
- Episode 2 “Examination”: Cadets adapt to life at the academy, both academic and social. But as they complete their training in the academy and exams approach, have they worked hard enough to succeed in the field?
- Episode 3 “On Duty“: Cadets get their first taste of real policing under the watchful eye of an experienced officer. For many of them this also means return to their pre-war home. But after graduation, what will it feel like to work independently? This episode also takes a look at the working lives of returnee police officers – what made them return and how does it feel working again in their pre-war community?
“Policija” was produced by the production-company MC Media in cooperation with OHR and UNMIBH, and funded by OHR. MC Media, based in Siroki Brijeg, was chosen on the basis of a public tender, and the series was filmed during 2000 and 2001 in both the Banja Luka and Sarajevo police academies and in the field.