# Municipal policing in the Czech Republic ## Introduction Municipal policing in the Czech Republic covers local forms of maintaining public order, enforcing local rules, and cooperating with the national Police of the Czech Republic. Municipalities use a range of tools: establishing municipal police forces, entering agreements with other municipalities, coordination agreements with the national police, subcontracting private security, and community measures. > Definition: Municipal police — a local security body established by a municipality to protect persons and property, oversee public order, enforce municipal ordinances, and participate in traffic and crime-prevention activities. ## Why municipal policing matters - Many municipalities face reduced national police presence due to budget cuts and restructuring. - Local governments therefore must decide how to secure their territory within limited budgets. ## Main models of local policing provision ### 1) Municipal police (own force) - Established by a municipal ordinance (Act No. 553/1991 Coll.). - Typical tasks: - Protect persons and property - Oversee orderly conduct and municipal ordinances - Participate in traffic control and public-order restoration - Detect administrative offences for the municipality - Practical considerations: - Costly to run (annual municipal police spending nationwide ~5 billion CZK) while fine revenues are much lower. - Size varies widely: from single-officer arrangements to forces in larger towns. Did you know that in 2011 municipal police officers dealt with 976,883 administrative transgressions, of which 708,228 related to road safety? ### 2) Contract law enforcement (public agreements between municipalities) - A municipality may contract another municipality’s municipal police to operate on its territory if both are in the same region and the regional authority consents. - The contract must specify: - Scope and start date of performance - Cost settlement method - The contractor issues written authorization to provider officers. - Widely used: hundreds of contractor and provider municipalities create shared policing coverage. ### 3) Coordination agreements with the Police of the Czech Republic - Provided by Act No. 273/2008 Coll. (Article 16) to modernize police work and clarify cooperation with local administrations. - Typical goals: - Set local policing procedure between national police and municipality - Allocate portions of work between bodies - Enable cost sharing - Note: coordination agreements are organizational, not legally binding in the same way as statutes; parties may end them. ### 4) Subcontracting private security - Municipalities sometimes hire private security companies for specific events or longer-term patrols. - Pros: flexible, avoids ongoing overheads, paid only when used. - Cons: private guards do not hold stronger powers than ordinary citizens; training and authority vary; procurement transparency can be limited. ### 5) Neighbourhood watches and community measures - Municipalities may support or form volunteer patrols or prevention assistants to increase presence and trust. - These initiatives can be low-cost but rely on community engagement and clear coordination with formal police. ## Practical examples (real-world applications) - Přerov nad Labem (1,150 inhabitants): patrolled by officers from nearby Čelákovice, focusing on preventive patrols, vandalism response, and speed checks near schools. - Plzeň-Slovany: joint patrols of national police and municipal police saved fuel and allowed more coverage of problem spots; each two-person team deployed together then split to inspect different streets. - Křešice: dissolved its municipal police in austerity measures and relied on regional police support and municipal misdemeanour commission for minor offences. - Sokolov: “Safe City” project assigns at least one municipal officer, one national officer, and one councillor to each district for pr