(for English, please see below)
Otvorena komunikacija između policijskih službenika/ca i građana/ki vodi poboljšanju odnosa u lokalnoj zajednici
U okviru projekta koji finansira Evropska unija s ciljem poboljšanja ljudskih prava u BiH, a sprovode Centar za sigurnosne studije, Udruženje „Mreža policijskih službenica“ i Ženevski centar za upravljanje sigurnosnim sektorom (DCAF), obavili smo naš prvi intervju s policijskom službenicom Tanjom Tomić kako bi ukazali na značaj doprinosa žena u radu policije, posebno u vrijeme pandemije uzrokovane korona virusom u našoj zemlji.
Policijska službenica Tanja Tomić rođena je 1972. godine u Sarajevu. Narednica je u Ministarstvu unutrašnjih poslova Kantona Sarajevo (Druga Policijska uprava, Policijska stanica Centar), gdje obavlja službu već 21 godinu. Tokom svog radnog vijeka, obavljala je različite poslove i zadatke iz nadležnosti MUP-a, od osiguranja javnih skupova, različitih protesta, pozorno patrolne službe, rada u auto patroli, na osiguranju PS i drugih objekata od značaja, a zadnjih deset godina angažirana je na radu policije u zajednici.
Malo je onih na području Općine Centar koji nisu imali priliku da sretnu ovu nasmijanu narednicu, koja svoj posao u službi građana/ki obavlja s ljubavlju i punom posvećenošću.
Zašto ste se odlučili za policijski poziv?
Još dok sam bila mala djevojčica, pored ostalih igara svojstvenih djeci tog uzrasta, igrala sam se sa vršnjacima te rođacima i „policajaca i lopova“ i u toj igri uvijek sam bila policajka. Tako da sam od malih nogu imala afinitet za rad u policiji i ljubav prema tom pozivu kasnije je samo rasla. Po završetku osnovne škole, želja mi je bila da upišem srednju policijsku školu. Međutim, u Sarajevu nije bilo te škole, a moj tata nije htio da idem van Sarajeva i tako sam završila srednju Trgovinsko-komercijalnu školu, a naknadno i ekonomsku školu. Po završetku rata u našoj zemlji, raspisan je konkurs za policijsku akademiju koja je trajala godinu dana. S oduševljenjem sam predala dokumente i, na moju veliku radost, negdje 1998. godine pozvana sam na predviđene provjere koje sam uredno prošla. Moja najveća životna i dječija želja napokon se ostvarila. Niko nije bio sretniji od mene.
Tanja Tomić s radnim kolegom
Budući da je epidemija koronavirusa paralizirala naše čitavo društvo, u kojoj mjeri se promijenio svakodnevni posao Vaših kolega/ica i Vas, odnosno koji su to najupečatljiviji izazovi s kojima se trenutno svi vi suočavate?
Na početku pandemije, svi/e policijski/e službenici/e profesionalno su prihvatili/e „izazov“ novonastale situacije, iako smo se dijelom i plašili/e. Ne toliko za sebe, nego prvenstveno za svoju porodicu, kolege/ice, ali i sve građane/ke, da prilikom redovnih poslova i zadataka ne budemo zaraženi/e koronavirusom i da isti ne prenesemo. U početku je bio evidentan nedostatak zaštitne opreme (maske, rukavice, dezinfekcijska sredstva i dr.) te smo na sve načine radili/e na samozaštiti kako bi to spriječili.
Pored svakodnevih poslova i zadataka, dobili smo još dodatna tri zadatka, a to su vršenje inspekcijskog nadzora i obilazak lica koja se nalaze u izolaciji, postupanje po odlukama Vlade Federacije BiH i Kantonalnog štaba Civilne zaštite, što znači rad na sprečavanju kršenja izrečenih mjera zabrane kretanja tokom policijskog sata, kao i kretanja bez zaštitne opreme, te sprovođenje akcije pronalaska, kontrole i smještaja migranata u imigracioni centar Blažuj.
„U početku je bio evidentan nedostatak zaštitne opreme te smo na sve načine radili/e na samozaštiti“
Ne mogu reći da nismo bili zabrinuti da li ćemo sve stići na vrijeme, jer se značajno povećao obim poslova i zadataka, ali smo uspjeli. Uz veliki trud i napore, ubrzo smo stekli rutinu i obavljali sve poslove i zadatke koji su se pred nas postavljali.
Ljudi su uplašeni, nervozni i pod stresom, ali kako biste ocijenili saradnju s građanima/kama u ovim teškim trenucima i koje bi bile Vaše preporuke da se ta saradnja unaprijedi?
Mogu reći da je saradnja s građanima/kama zadovoljavajuća, imajući u vidu novonastalu situaciju. Tačno je da su građani/ke veoma zabrinuti/e, ali nam u većini slučajeva pomažu. Često se dešava da nas pozovu i obavijeste kada primjete nesavjesne građane/ke koji/e krše izrečene mjere. U početku smo nesavjesne građane/ke upozoravali da ne krše izrečene mjere, a ako bi ponovo počinili prekršaj bili bi prekršajno sankcionisani. Međutim, već smo u drugom mjesecu pandemije i očekujemo da su se građani osvijestili i da trebaju poštovati izrečene mjere. Ponekad je dovoljno samo obaviti razgovor s građanima/kama, pojasniti im situaciju i dati podršku kako ne bi bili/e uplašeni/e.
Posebno napominjem da nam je u svim poslovima i zadacima koje obavljamo od posebnog značaja pomoć i saradnja građana. Moram istaći da smo u deficitu s policijskim službenicima/ama, što nam nekada otežava posao, pa molim građane/ke da imaju razumijevanja, jer zaista ulažemo maksimalne napore s kapacitetima koje imamo.
U prvi mah smo se suočavali i s problemom lica u samoizolaciji, jer isti nisu boravili na adresi koju su prijavili, a brojevi mobitela, koje su davali prilikom upisa, nisu bili tačni. Tada su nam u mnogim situacijama pomogli građani/ke i ovim putem im se zahvaljujem u ime MUP-a KS i svoje lično ime.
„U deficitu smo s policijskim službenicima/ama, ali ulažemo maksimalne napore s kapacitetima koje imamo“
Također, molim građane/ke da poštuju izrečene mjere zabrana, kao i da koriste zaštitnu opremu, jer je to za dobro svih nas. Razumijem da je nekada teško, ali neka pomisle na nas i službenike/ce drugih institucija koji/e nose zaštitnu opremu po 12 sati i duže.
Tanja Tomić (desno) s radnom kolegicom
Svaki čovjek unosi neke prednosti u određeni kolektiv, ali istraživanja su pokazala da policijske službenice imaju suptilniji pristup poslu što doprinosi boljim odnosima s lokalnom zajednicom. Jeste li Vi uočili da određene vještine Vaših kolegica i Vas posebno dolaze do izražaja u trenutnoj situaciji?
Na osnovu svog dugogodišnjeg policijskog iskustva mogu reći da u nekim situacijama policijske službenice staloženije i smirenije pristupaju određenim intervencijama. Također, često se dešava da imaju bolji pristup i odnos prema starijim osobama i djeci. Imala sam lično iskustva kada djeca ne žele da razgovaraju s muškim kolegom, kao i pojedine starije osobe. Međutim, generalno otvorena komunikacija između policijskih službenika/ca i građana/ki dovodi do poboljšanja odnosa u lokalnoj zajednici, zbog čega je veoma bitno da njegujemo taj odnos. Isto tako, značajno je da imamo mješovite timove na terenu, jer ćemo tako odgovoriti na potrebe svih građana/ki.
„Otvorena komunikacija između policijskih službenika/ca i građana/ki dovodi do poboljšanja odnosa u lokalnoj zajednici“
Kada je u pitanju pandemija izazvana koronavirusom, mogu zaključiti da su žene više osvještene nego muškarci, jer više pazimo na samozaštitu i zaštitu drugih pa tako i na poslu. Dešavalo se da kolege napominjemo da poslije svakog izlaska iz stanice ili iz službenog vozila ruke, odnosno rukavice, dezinficiraju, kao i prilikom odlaska i dolaska s intervencija. Uz naše prvobitno napominjanje, stekli su navedenu rutinu.
Policija se još uvijek u našem društvu predominantno smatra muškim zanimanjem što se, kao posljedica, odražava i na neravnomjernu zastupljenost oba spola u policijskim agencijama. Prema Vašem mišljenju, kako promijeniti tu situaciju?
To ste u pravu. Mislim da još uvijek pojedini građani/ke policijski posao smatraju muškim zanimanjem, ali mi smo tu da razbijemo te predrasude. Trebamo biti složne i uporne te pokazati koliko smo sposobne za ovaj posao. Ovom prilikom pozivam sve mlade djevojke, prvenstveno one koje imaju želju i volju, da se bez ustručavanja prijave na konkurs bilo koje policijske agencije, jer ovaj posao podjednako dobro obavljaju žene, a često i bolje.
„Ovaj posao podjednako dobro obavljaju žene, a često i bolje“
Ovaj intervju je urađen u okviru projekta „Policija i poštivanje ljudskih prava u BiH”, koji finansira Evropska unija.
Police officer Tanja Tomic in the service of citizens for two decades
Open communication between police officers and citizens leads to improved relations in the local community
Within the EU-funded project “Police and Respect for Human Rights in BiH” conducted by the Center for Security Studies, the “Policewomen’s Network” Association and the Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), we conducted our first interview with police officer Tanja Tomic in order to highlight the importance of women’s contributions to the police work, especially at the time of a pandemic caused by a Corona virus in our country.
Police officer Tanja Tomic was born in 1972 in Sarajevo. She is a Sergeant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton (Second Police Administration, Police Station Center), where she has been serving for 21 years. During her working career, she has performed various tasks and duties within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from securing public meetings or various protests, working on patrol and the car patrol, securing police stations and and other facilities of importance. For the last ten years she has been engaged in community policing.
A lot of people in the Center Municipality had the opportunity to meet this smiling Sergeant, who does her work with love and full dedication in the service of citizens.
Why did you choose to work as a police officer?
When I was a little girl, in addition to other games typical of children of that age, I played with the peers and relatives game of “cops and robbers” and in that game I always have been a cop. So from an early age I had an affinity for working in the police and the love for that call later only grew. After graduating from elementary school, my desire was to enroll in police high school. However, there was no such school in Sarajevo, and my father did not want me to go outside of Sarajevo, and so I graduated from the High School of Commerce, and subsequently the School of Economics. After the end of the war in our country, a competition for a police academy, which lasted one year, was announced. I enthusiastically submitted the documents and, to my great joy, sometime in 1998, I was called to the scheduled checks which I orderly passed. My biggest life and childhood wish has finally come true. No one was happier than me.
Since the corona virus epidemic has paralyzed our entire society, to what extent has the daily work of your colleagues and you changed, or what are the most striking challenges that you all currently face?
At the beginning of the pandemic, all police officers professionally accepted the “challenge” of the new situation, although we were partly afraid. Not so much for ourselves, but primarily for our family, colleagues, but also all citizens, to not to be infected with the corona virus and not to transmit it when performing regular duties and tasks. Initially, there was a clear lack of protective equipment (masks, gloves, disinfectants, etc.) and in all ways we worked on self-protection in order to prevent this from happening. In addition to our daily duties and tasks, following the decisions of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Cantonal Civil Protection Headquarters, we were given three additional tasks, such as carrying out inspections and visiting persons in isolation, which means working on preventing violations of movement ban measures during curfew and not wearing protective equipment, as well as carrying out the action of finding, controlling and accommodating migrants at the Blazuj Immigration Center.
“Initially, there was a clear lack of protective equipment and in all ways we worked on self-protection”
I can’t say we weren’t worried about getting everything on time, as the volume of duties and tasks increased significantly, but we managed. With hard work and efforts, we soon acquired a routine and performed all the duties and tasks that were set before us.
People are scared, nervous, and stressed, and how would you evaluate your cooperation with citizens in these difficult times and what would be your recommendations for improvement of this cooperation?
I can say that cooperation with citizens is satisfying, given the situation we are in. It is true that citizens are very concerned, but in most cases they help us. It is often the case that they call us and inform us when they notice reckless citizens who violate the measures imposed. Initially, we warned those citizens not to violate the imposed measures, and if they committed the offense again they would be sanctioned for misdemeanors. However, we are already in the second month of the pandemic and we expect that the citizens have become aware and that they should respect the measures imposed. Therefore, we no longer only warn them, but immediately sanction in accordance with the law. Sometimes it is enough to just talk to the citizens, clarify the situation and support them so that they are not scared.
I would like to emphasize that assistance and cooperation of citizens are of particular importance to us in all the duties and tasks we perform. I must point out that we are in short supply with police officers, which sometimes makes it difficult for us to work, so I ask the citizens to have understanding, because we are really making the maximum effort with the capacities we have. At first, we also faced the problem with persons in self-isolation, because they did not reside at the address they reported, and the cell phone numbers they provided at enrollment were incorrect. At that time, in many situations, the citizens helped us and I thank them on behalf of the MoI of Canton Sarajevo and myself.
“We are in short supply with police officers, but we are making maximum efforts with the capacities we have”
Also, I would like to ask the citizens to respect the imposed measures and to use protective equipment, because it is for the benefit of all of us. I understand that sometimes it is difficult, but please think about us and the employees of other institutions who wear protective equipment for 12 hours or longer.
Each person brings some benefits to a particular collective, but research has shown that female police officers have a more subtle approach to work, which contributes to better relationships with the local community. Did you notice that certain skills of your female colleagues and you especially come to light in the current situation?
Based on many years of my experience in the police, I can say that in some situations female officers have a more balanced and calmer approach to certain interventions. It is also often the case that they have better access and attitude towards older people and children. I have had personal experiences when children as well as some older people did not want to talk to male colleagues. However, generally open communication between both, female and male police officers and citizens leads to improved relations in the local community, which is why it is very important to cultivate this relationship. It is also important that we have mixed teams in the field, as we will respond to the needs of all citizens.
“Open communication between both, female and male police officers and citizens leads to improved relations in the local community”
When it comes to the pandemic caused by the corona virus, I can conclude that women are more aware than men because we pay more attention to the self-protection and protection of others, including at work. It happened that we had to remind our male colleagues that after leaving station or an official vehicle, the hands, or gloves, must be disinfected, as well as when leaving and coming from interventions. After pointing it out in the beginning, they acquired the said routine.
Police work in our society is still predominantly considered a male occupation, which, as a consequence, is reflected in the unequal representation of both genders in police agencies. In your opinion, how to change this situation?
You are right. I think some citizens still consider police work a male profession, but we are here to break these prejudices. We need to be united and persistent and show how capable we are of this job. On this occasion, I urge all young girls, primarily those who have the desire and the will, to apply to any police agency without hesitation, because this job is done equally well by women, and often even better.
“This job is done equally well by women, and often even better”
This interview was conducted within the project “The police and the respect for human rights in BiH”, funded by the European Union.