Last year, RPP served a total of more than 126,000 calls, which is about 10% more than the year before. Although a large part of the load is still caused by calls for violations of the rules of stopping and parking, the police management also emphasized that last year the police’s powers to deal with new types of violations were also expanded. For example, last year, 66 administrative violation proceedings were initiated for glorifying military aggression, while 187 violations were detected in the field of using unmanned aircraft or drones.
“At this time, it is important for residents to feel safe both in the city as a whole and in their neighborhood, so we (the police) must be visible both on the streets and in the media room,” emphasized RPP head Juris Lūkass, emphasizing that the presence of the police in the neighborhood is as important as communication with society. At the same time, Lukas pointed out that last year it was possible to reduce the response time for calls in which a person’s life or health is in danger. On the other hand, in order to improve these indicators in the future, the head of RPP told about the plans to expand and modernize the video surveillance system, as well as about the establishment of the Unified Control Center.
“We have a common vision with RPP, that Riga should become the safest city in Latvia, paying special attention to the less protected groups of society. We intend to double the number of video surveillance points and establish a RPP Unified Command Center, thus greatly improving police efficiency. RPP is ready for significant changes,” says Linda Ozola, chairwoman of the Committee on Security, Order and Corruption Prevention of Riga City Council.
As a second priority, Lucas put forward the improvement of the working environment of the police officers, noting that none of the stated goals of the police force can be achieved without the officers. Therefore, we are currently working on improving internal communication, implementing a new training system, as well as continuing to work on improving pay, reducing workload, as well as various solutions to improve everyday life. “Although the year has started with a salary review, the salary of police officers is still not competitive enough in the labor market, if you take into account the heavy workload and the risks of burnout,” summed up J. Lucas.
“I am satisfied that in this convocation we have introduced a new tradition – a close dialogue between the Riga City Council and the RPP, which was previously neglected. My main priority, both purely objectively and after discussions with RPP management and police officers, is raising the salary of RPP employees and improving working conditions. Together with the chairman of the council, Mārtiņas Staķi, we have agreed to allocate 30% of the city’s growth budget every year for this purpose,” emphasizes L. Ozola.
