ISSN: 2067 – 9211 International Relations in the Contemporary World. Geopolitics and Diplomacy The Reform of the Romanian Police Forces between Necessity and Possibility Țuțu Pișleag1 Abstract: Police Forces today face new challenges requiring the requirement to redefine (review) procedures to identify the most effective responses. All these years, the theme of police reform in Romania has been a constant one. Under these conditions we must consider the particular factors in which these forces were established and evolved over time. The purpose of this article concerns the basic aspects from the legislative perspective of the organization and functioning of the public order forces in Romania and the arguments for which the gendarmerie forces must be rethought as police forces in the field of Public Order, and by reference to the most important moments in the evolution of this institution. The Romanian Gendarmerie was founded on the French model, but the developments were interrupted by historical events that fundamentally changed its role and duties. Keywords: reform; police; gendarmerie; government authorities; Public Service; Public Order The analysis of the normative acts that regulate the organization and functioning of the Romanian Police, the Romanian Border Police and the Romanian Gendarmerie highlights a common aspect in their definition as specialized state institutions and components of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the same time, the legislative framework also stipulates that the Romanian Gendarmerie has military status, but in reality, it has civilian attributions, and “the activity of the Romanian Police is a specialized public service and is performed in the interest of the person, the community and state institutions, exclusively on the basis and in the execution of the law”2. At the same time, we find that in Romania it is organized a centralized police system, specific to the European continent, through the existence of two forces, police and gendarmerie, which is not unique only in European countries. It is interesting that in the period 2004 - 2010 the Community Police3 also functioned, “for public order, as a local, specialized public service”4, through the reorganization of the Public Guard Corps, and later, in 2010, transformed into the Local Police5 operating at the level of administrative-territorial units. The fact that the law stipulates that “the Ministry of Administration and Interior elaborates, in consultation with the associative structures of local public administration authorities, the Framework 1 Professor, PhD, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Corresponding author: [email protected]. 2 Law no. 218 of April 23, 2002 (republished) regarding the organization and functioning of the Romanian Police, Official Monitor no. 170 of March 2, 2020. 3 Law no. 371 of September 20, 2004 on the establishment, organization and operation of the Community Police, Official Monitor no. 878 of September 27, 2004. 4 Law no. 371 of September 20, 2004 on the establishment, organization and operation of the Community Police, Official Monitor no. 878 of September 27, 2004, art. 1, para. 1. 5 Law no. 155 of July 12, 2010 of the local police, Official Monitor no. 488 of July 15, 2010 (republished, Official Monitor no. 339 of May 8, 2014). 279 European Integration - Realities and Perspectives. Proceedings 2020 Regulation for the organization and functioning of local police, which is approved by Government decision”1 highlights the nature of relations between these institutions. It was a recognition of this institution, and implicitly its nature, surprisingly the police nature of the gendarmerie's attributions is not recognized. Thus, the Framework Regulation on the organization and functioning of the local police2 “regulates the organization and functioning of the local police and applies to its staff”3 and at local level there are adopted “decisions for approving the regulation on the organization and functioning of the local police established at the unit / administrative-territorial subdivision”4. Although the Community Police Act entered into force in 2004, this structure has been designed since 2002. Thus, it was provided that “the establishment, organization and operation of the Community Police for public order at the level of administrative-territorial units is regulated by law”5. We agree with the concept of community police for public order from two perspectives, one related to the implementation of this strategy according to the Western model and the other related to the opening of an academic debate on public order policing. Or, from our point of view, the concept of community police, of public order, must refer to the public order structures of the police and gendarmerie, as governmental structures and less the local police which is organized and operates by “decision of the deliberative authority of the administration local public bodies, as a functional compartment within the specialized apparatus of the mayor / general mayor or as a public institution of local interest”6. We believe that the functioning of such a structure, community police, was made from a strategic level error without knowing what this concept of community police (policing)7 implies. In general, public order structures (police and gendarmerie), including those of the traffic police, are the most visible in society and must also be available to the public because today “society (...) requires the police to deal with an incredible and wide range of difficult situations” (Goldstein, 1990, p. 1). Thus, we appreciate that it is the moment when the role of the police forces can be enhanced, the strategies adopted and implicitly their efficiency, as well as their relationship with the community. At the same time, “the police is the most visible manifestation of the highest-performing governmental authority, obvious, immediate and intrusive tasks to ensure8 “peace and tranquility of the community, remaining one of the fundamental public services of peaceful coexistence. At the same time, the fundamental right to security9 is ensured and preserved by maintaining a state of peaceful coexistence through which the effective exercise of citizens' rights and freedoms can be achieved. 1 Law no. 155 of July 12, 2010 of the local police, Official Monitor no. 488 of July 15, 2010 (republished, Official Monitor no. 339 of May 8, 2014), art. 45, para. (2). 2 Government Decision no. 1332/2010 on the approval of the Framework Regulation for the organization and functioning of the local police, Official Monitor no. 882 of December 29, 2010. 3 Art. 1, Government Decision no. 1332/2010 on the approval of the Framework Regulation for the organization and functioning of the local police, Official Monitor no. 882 of December 29, 2010. 4 Art. 2, Government Decision no. 1332/2010 on the approval of the Framework Regulation for the organization and functioning of the local police, Official Monitor no. 882 of December 29, 2010. 5 Art. 65, Law no. 218 of April 23, 2002 (republished) regarding the organization and functioning of the Romanian Police, Official Monitor no. 170 of March 2, 2020. 6 Art. 4, para. (1), Law no. 155 of July 12, 2010 of the local police, Official Monitor no. 488 of July 15, 2010 (republished, Official Monitor no. 339 of May 8, 2014). 7 Community policing has evolved slowly since the civil rights movement of the 1960s exposed the weaknesses of the traditional police model. Although its origins can be traced to this crisis in police-community relations, its development has been influenced by a wide variety of factors over the last forty years. https://law.jrank.org/pages/1649/Police-Community- Policing-Origins-evolution-community-policing.html, accessed on 07.04.2020. 8 Guidebook on Democratic Policing, OSCE, Vienna, May 2008, 2nd Edition, p. 11. 9 Art. 22 The right to life and to physical and mental integrity (1) The right to life as well as the right to physical and mental integrity of the person are guaranteed. (2) No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (3) The death penalty shall be prohibited; art. 23 Individual freedom (1) The individual freedom and security of the person are inviolable, the Romanian Constitution, Official Monitor no. 233 of 21 November 1991 (amended and supplemented, Official Monitor no. 767 of 31 October 2003). 280 ISSN: 2067 – 9211 International Relations in the Contemporary World. Geopolitics and Diplomacy The need to reconsider the attributions of the gendarmerie as being of a police nature leads us to reorganize it by bringing to the present day the rural gendarmerie structures, as a real force of continuity, because “in any circumstances (peace, crisis or war) it ensures continuity of state action on the entire national territory”1, provided even by the very law of organization and functioning with reference to the attributions in the field of public order and military actions. It is necessary to point out that implicitly, the functional police competencies of the gendarmerie structures are recognized by the applicability of the Code of Ethics and Deontology in the sense that it “applies (...) to the Romanian Gendarmerie personnel under the provisions of Law no. 550/2004 regarding the organization and functioning of the Romanian Gendarmerie, regardless of the structure in which it is employed and the position it holds”2. The Gendarmerie can thus be considered as a military