Editorial - European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Press, the Spanish Way
8
Police in BiH
Being a police spokesperson in
BiH is not easy. The demands are
high, the budget is low, and the work
is never-ending. Yet, it is one of the
most satisfying jobs one could have.
Presenting solved cases to the public,
organising community events, working
on security-related projects is
gratifying work that helps create a
better environment. And while we do
our job well – if I may say – there is
always room for improvement, and
that improvement usually comes
from the exchange of knowledge
and experience with our colleagues
from other countries.
Having this in mind, with the support of TAIEX
(Technical Assistance and Information Ex -
chan ge Instrument), at the beginning of this
year the Republika Srpska Ministry of
Interior organised a study visit dubbed “Role of
public relations in law enforcement agencies” to
the Spanish Gendarmerie (Guardia Civil).
And so Gospa Arsenović, Spokesperson of the
Banja Luka Public Security Centre, Mersiha No -
va lić, Spokesperson of the Federation Police Ad mi -
nistration, and I went to Madrid to learn about the methodology
of work and the organisation of the PR service of the Spanish
Gendarmerie, getting to know the system of internal and external
communication of a complex organisation whose tradition
goes all the way back to 1844.
What we saw was a clearly defined service dealing with public
relations with precisely delineated jobs and an efficient communication
system behind it all.
Here and there
The Department for Social Relations and Information (ORIS)
is in charge of the press work for the Spanish Gendarmerie. It
comprises the Press Office, the Protocol Service, the Service for
Internet and Intranet, the Service for audio and visual communication,
editorial staff that publishes the Gendarmerie’s magazine
and the Bureau for Citizens’ Issues. ORIS in Madrid employs 42
people. If we count those working on local level, there are a total
of 140 people dealing with PR in the Spanish Gendarmerie. As a
comparison, with all law enforcement agencies in our country,
there are 25 police spokespersons in the entire BiH.
As our Spanish colleagues explained their modus operandi, we
discovered it does not differ much from ours, with one exception
– as opposed to our Law, the Spanish Law on freedom to access
information does not define a deadline for a response, there is
nothing obligatory and no sanctions if they fail to respond. In
Gospa Arsenović, Mirna Šoja i Mersiha Novalić
addition, they say they have a full freedom to keep the information
from a journalist if they believe that he/she would not carry
it in a proper way. We did not hide our surprise since in our country
a failure of a spokesperson to answer the phone is mentioned
in press articles, and I don’t even have to mention the misinterpretation
of official information.
A glimpse into the future?
However, while our approach to basic press work does not differ,
there is a great distinction in the organisation of the departments
– in BiH, the press office of a police agency consists of
one spokesperson who takes care of everything. In Spain, the situation
is slightly different.
The work of the press office is closely followed by the Service
for audio and visual communication, which makes all audio and
visual recordings about the work of the Gen dar merie and provides
it to the media so that they would have high quality materials
for their newspapers and TV features. It is interesting to
mention that this service creates all publications, promotional
brochures and TV spots for the needs of the Gendarmerie. The
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