Local authorities will not finance police anymore

The local authorities will not be obliged to finance the police, according to a bill approved by the Government at its last meeting. This prerogative will belong exclusively to the state budget because, as the executive says, the local authorities showed their incapacity to allocate the resources that the police need. After the Parliament adopts the bill, the local public administration will be able to voluntarily contribute to financing the police and to provide material support to help the police guarantee public order. The bill envisages the improvement of the planning of the financial and material needs of the police, the avoidance of salary arrears and provision of technical-material assistance in due time. Under the present law on police, the state police are financed from the state budget and the municipal police from the budgets of the territorial-administrative units. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a sum of 16 million lei was planned in the Chisinau budget for providing the municipal police with equipment in 2006. But there was allotted only 3.5 million lei. This year the police need approximately 19 million lei, but it obtained only 1.6 million lei by July 1. The respective arrears have amounted to about 20 million lei during the past five years.