‘Police volunteering’ in Central and Eastern Europe

Figures & data

Figure 1. Sustainability of local public order affairs agenda as an intersection of several positive and negative trends (own elaboration, on the basis of Hřebík & Krulík, 2018 and Krulík, 2014).

Table 1. Existence of public police-security forces in the monitored states, generally since 1989–1990 (Bohman & Krulík, 2009; Krédl, 2016; Krulík, 2015b; Krulík et al., 2022; Krulík & Bohman, 2012; Valta & Vangeli, 2012).

State	Police force	Gendarmerie^a	Border Guard	Other bodies^b
Bulgaria	National Police Service; Национална полиция	(since 2012 incorporated to the police force; in 2020 discussion about its re-creation was initiated)	National Border Police Service; Национална служба Гранична полиция	Directorate General ‘Combating Organized Crime’; Главна дирекция ‘Борба с организираната престъпност’ municipal guards in some municipalities
Croatia	Croatia Police; Hrvatska policija	–	integral part of police force	municipal control bodies with very limited competences
Cyprus	Cypriot Police; Αστυνομία Κύπρου	–	–	municipal control and security bodies that are currently subject of reform efforts for further strengthening Forest and Hunting Guard; Υπηρεσία Θήρας και Πανίδας, carrying out tasks in the field of nature conservation and combating poaching
Czech Republic	Police of the Czech Republic; Policie České republiky	–	–	municipal guards in some municipalities
Estonia	Police and Border Guard Board; Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet	–	since 2010 unified with police force	municipal guard in capital
Hungary	Police; Rendőrség	(since 2008 incorporated into the police force)	–	National Security Service; Nemzetbiztonsági Szakszolgálat (intelligence service with some law enforcement competences) Constitution Protection Office; Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal (intelligence service with some law enforcement competences) Parliamentary Guard; Országgyűlési Őrség National Tax and Customs Authority; Nemzeti Adó és Vámhivatal municipal guards and other control authorities in some municipalities
Latvia	State Police of Latvia; Latvijas Valsts policija	–	State Border Guard; Valsts Robežsardze	Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau; Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs municipal guards in some municipalities
Lithuania	Lithuanian Police Force; Lietuvos Policijos pajegos	Public Security Service; Viešojo saugumo tarnyba	State Border Guard Service; Valstybės sienos apsaugos tarnyba	municipal guards in some municipalities
Malta	Police; Pulizija	–	integral part of military	state supported municipal guards
Poland	Police; Policja	Military Gendarmerie; Żandarmeria Wojskowa (primarily military agenda)	Polish Border Guard; Straż Graniczna	Agency for Internal Security; Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrzne (intelligence service with some law enforcement competences) Central Anticorruption Bureau; Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne (specific law enforcement agency)
Romania	Romanian Police; Poliția Română	Romanian Gendarmerie; Jandarmeria Română	Romanian Border Police; Poliția de Frontieră Română	Anti-Corruption General Directorate; Direcţia Generală Anticorupţie (specific law enforcement agency) local police in some municipalities
Slovakia	Police force of the Slovak Republic; Policajný zbor Slovenskej republiky	–	–	municipal guards in some municipalities
Slovenia	Police; Policija	–	–	municipal or micro-regional police forces in some municipalities

^a Military police forces are excluded from this overview, as forces that are generally used for the order tasks inside the military force itself.

^b Some intelligence services, that are not directly mentioned in the table, are also performing some tasks regarding the local public order affairs, but in a lot more indirect way. Other municipal control bodies, dealing with, for example, the environmental protection agenda or the management of municipal apartments, are not mentioned either.

Table 2. Summary of findings on the security-volunteer base within the new European Union Member States (on the basis of the resources in the previous text).

State	Post-socialist state	Key area where security volunteers are involved	Intensity of volunteer activities regarding local public order affairs	Existence of the compulsory military service	Existence of vigilante platforms
Bulgaria	Yes, Soviet model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Very limited, negligent	No (since 2008)	Very visible, with an emphasis on the migration agenda
Croatia	Yes, Yugoslavian model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Very limited, negligent	No (since 2008)	Very limited
Cyprus	No	Neighbourhood watch patrols	Yes, very visible	Yes	Very limited
Czech Republic	Yes, Soviet model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Very limited, negligent	No (since 2005)	Rather rhetorical attempts to build a pro-Kremlin militia
Estonia	Yes, an integral part of the Soviet Union since 1940/1944	Military agenda	Yes, very visible	Yes	Very limited
Hungary	Yes, Soviet model	Internal security and crime prevention	Yes, very visible	No (since 2004)	Historical attempts within the chauvinist subculture, but the state ‘tunnelled’ them through supporting official security volunteer activities
Latvia	Yes, an integral part of the Soviet Union since 1940/1944	Military agenda	Overlap with military volunteer capacities	Yes (abolished in 2007, reintroduced in 2023)	Very limited
Lithuania	Yes, an integral part of the Soviet Union since 1940/1944	Military agenda	Overlap with military volunteer capacities	Yes (abolished in 2008, reintroduced in 2015)	Very limited
Malta	no	Rescue in general, especially at sea	Overlap with rescue volunteer capacities	No	Very limited
Poland	Yes, Soviet model	Military agenda	Overlap with military volunteer capacities	No (since 2009), but all men are surveyed whether they are fit for military service	Very limited
Romania	Yes, Soviet model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Certain activities within some municipalities	No (since 2007)	Not detected
Slovakia	Yes, Soviet model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Yes, very visible; several state-supported activities	No (since 2006)	Certain attempts within the extremist subculture
Slovenia	Yes, Yugoslavian model	Population protection (fire rescue)	Very limited, ad hoc	No (since 2004)	Quite visible, with an emphasis on the migration agenda

Figure 2. Key area where security volunteers are involved: blue – internal security; green – military; orange – population protection, rescue etc. (own elaboration, with use of the blank map – the scale and location is modified in the case of Cyprus and Malta: Jones, 2009).

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