Montenegrin citizens trust police the most, OSCE Mission to Montenegro survey finds

Citizens place the highest trust in the police (41.7%) and army (41.4%), followed by religious institutions, local governments, international organizations and the NGO sector. As many as 72.5% of citizens mostly believe that the situation in Montenegro is generally safe, while 61.4% of citizens are mostly satisfied with the police in protecting citizens’ safety. These are some of the key findings from a Perception of the Police in Montenegro survey, commissioned by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and conducted by the Damar Agency between 7 and 15 October 2022 on a sample of 1,000 respondents.

Results, presented to representatives from the Ministry of Interior and Police Directorate, show that 64.9% of respondents had a mostly positive attitude towards the police, a result that is slightly less than it was than last year. 55.3% of the respondents agree with the statement that the police in Montenegro serve as a citizens’ service, and 46.3% believe that the police mostly cooperates with citizens in their communities. However, half of respondents agree with the statement that the police are under the influence of the politicians.

As many as 91.5% of respondents believe that organized crime represents the greatest threat to citizens’ safety; while 89.8% of respondents name drug addiction, followed closely with drug trafficking 89.5% and corruption (85%). Of note, 81.5% of respondents perceive domestic violence as the greatest threat to safety, which is an increase of 6.2% compared to 2021 findings. Almost half of the respondents believe that a certain or small number of police officers are involved in corruption.

A novelty in this year’s survey were questions about citizens’ attitudes towards firearms. The survey showed that 83.9% of respondents believe that citizens should not possess firearms. Almost half of respondents (47.6%) said they would be ready to return an illegal weapon if offered amnesty, and 42.9% said that the Ministry of Interior and the Police Directorate should be engaged in legalization of weapons where there is a legal basis for possessing a firearm.

The Mission will continue to support activities aimed at development and further strengthening of the Police Directorate developing further a professional and democratic police service, capable of detecting and fighting corruption and organized crime, while increasing security in the community. The Mission will also work with the police in further empowering and increasing the number of women police officers.

The Mission supports the rapid adoption of amendments to the Law on Weapons, which will give the possibility to conduct a public awareness campaign in partnership with NGOs on the importance of legalizing and voluntary surrender of weapons.