STRONG FORCES OF THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
The communist one-party government of the Republic of Croatia lost the democratic election of 1990. An unfavourable national structure of employees in the then Republic Secretariat of Internal Affairs and their resistance to change meant that the new government was forced to recruit new forces it could rely on.
This led to the establishment of the “First Croatian Police Officer” training programme, which started at the Police Academy on 5 August 1990, gathering more than 1800 participants from across the Republic of Croatia and beyond. On 8 August 1990, the first president of the Republic of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, PhD presided over the assembly of the “First Croatian Police Officer” unit. The unit was divided into two battalions and fifteen companies armed with military-formation weapons.
Together with some of the Croatian members of the then Republic Secretariat of Internal Affairs, the “First Croatian Police Officer” provided members for the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit and the new Tuškanac and Rakitje (nowadays known as the Tigers) units, while other training programme participants were distributed across police departments, forming the backbone of the then emerging Special Police and Croatian National Guard (the precursor of the Croatian Armed Forces). Before it was disbanded, the “First Croatian Police Officer” unit was tasked with protecting persons and objects of special interest (the Croatian Parliament, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the President’s residence, Croatian Radiotelevision, Croatian Post and Telecommunications...) and suppressing uprisings in Lika, Dalmatia and Banija, where Josip Božićević, the first Croat to be wounded, suffered his injury.
Due to the constant deterioration of security in the Republic of Croatia during 1990 and 1991, offences against the public order and the deterioration of security in Jasenovac, Slunjska Brda, Knin, Korenica, Banija, Okučani, Daruvar, Lipik, Pakrac and Eastern Slavonia, which exhibited a tendency to spread across the entire territory and develop into war-like actions, a need for an increase in the number of employees and the establishment of the Special Police arose. The first half of 1991 brought ever more frequent attacks from the Yugoslav National Army and paramilitary Serbian rebel troops, which led to the killing of a police officer on duty, occupations of police stations and ever more frequent killings of civilians with the aim of creating “Great Serbia”.
All of these events caused an adjustment in the organization and command of the Special Police, as well as adaptation of the Special Police employees’ training and programmes. Such dynamic developments were reflected in the changes of the Special Police structure. In the autumn of 1991, the Special Police Department was established as part of the Police Sector of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia. During 1993, due to an increase in both the workload and the number of employees stemming from an increase in the number of units (a special police unit was formed at every police department) and reserves, it was re-organized as the Special Police Sector, before becoming an independent police rank within the Ministry of the Interior through a series of amendments to the Internal Affairs Act in 1994.
In addition to its regular duties, the Special Police handled the entire defence before the formation of the Croatian National Guard and Croatian Armed Forces, which led the media at the time to refer to it as “THE STRONG FORCES OF THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR”.
During the Croatian War of Independence, the Special Police continued to collaborate with the Croatian Armed Forces in all defence and liberation operations before the final liberation of the entire occupied territory of the Republic of Croatia.
From the moment these forces were established until the Republic of Croatia was liberated, 762members of the Croatian police laid down their lives for the establishment of the Croatian state, more than 3600 were wounded and 27are still considered missing. Defending their homeland, 146 members of the special forces lost their lives and their names are listed in the Special Police monograph.
Anyone who wants to know more about the role the police played in the Croatian War of Independence can find more information in the book and movie entitled “The Role of the Police in the Croatian War of Independence” and the monograph entitled Special Police in the Croatian War of Independence.
Croatian War of Independence
Special Police Association
