Joint police and military patrols called off

Members of the Czech military will no longer take part in joint patrols with the police at key sites in the Czech Republic; three-man teams became commonplace in areas including the airport, outside shopping centres and even outside Czech Radio since March. Police will keep up heightened patrols on their own.

Photo: CTK

Some 550 soldiers joined police patrols at airports, railway stations, selected embassies and other areas following devastating attacks in Brussels. Now, after roughly two months, the joint operations have wrapped up. Defence Minister Martin Stropnický pointed out that the police would still keep up patrols on their own and that those would remain higher than usual. At the beginning of the year, the Czech Republic adopted a four-point scale to assess the danger of possible attacks, with 0 meaning none and four that an attack was imminent. Intelligence services have reported no growing danger but the scale remains set at one, meaning a state of heightened vigilance. Police President Tomáš Tuhý, meanwhile, made clear that if the situation called for it, army personnel would be called up again.

Tomáš Tuhý, photo: Filip Jandourek

“We have to count on the fact that if the security situation again worsens, we will cooperate again with the Czech Army… The police will continue increased patrols according to the current rating of ‘1’ on the threat scale.”

The head of the Communist Party Vojtěch Filip told Czech TV that increased police patrols under the circumstances was in order; by contrast former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek, the head of TOP 09, did little to couch his sarcasm when he spoke to Czech TV:

“I really do not think it suits the Army to take part in certain repressive measures against the domestic population, not least when combined with the ‘soft touch’ often demonstrated by our police.”

But joint patrols were hardly unusual following the attacks in Brussels anywhere in Europe, Czech TV noted; should the need call for it, the defence minister has also promised the military is ready for when it is needed again.

Martin Stropnický, photo: Filip Jandourek

“The costs came to around three-and-a-half million crowns per month so that is not that high. But there’s no point in talking about the cost: this is something which simply has to be done.”

The military and the police have cooperated with successful results before: most recently helping to stabilise a former munitions site in Vrbětice where the situation led to random deadly and potentially deadly explosions two years ago.