New Czech Police Commissioner wants to fight extremism, hooligans and tax crime

Czech Police Commissioner Tomáš Tuhý, appointed this past Saturday, is including the fight against drugs and street crime, extremism, and violence at stadium events among his priorities. He also wants to focus on tax crime and is supposed to be preparing a special unit called Cobra for that purpose.  

Within the next month, Tuhý will propose the names of those he wants staffing his inner circle to Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democrats – ČSSD). The two men announced the news at a press conference today.   

Czech President Miloš Zeman wants to give the new police chief a 100-day grace period so he can take the time to rearrange the management of the corps as he sees fit. "When I defined my priorities for this job, I wanted to unequivocally demonstrate that the police will be heading in the direction of maintaining public order," Tuhý said.     

The new chief believes the police should focus on both left-wing and right-wing extremism, street crime, and violence at sports matches. "The police will professionally intervene against that phenomenon in a completely uncompromising way," he said. 

Tuhý also believes there is a need to stabilize the Czech Police. "The stabilization of the police is no less of a concern. Over the past few years the police have undergone many changes, and now it is essential that the police corps receive clear leadership," he said. 

The new 42-year-old police chief has been serving with the police corps for more than 20 years. Media speculated that another candidate for the post was Dušan Brunclík, the Deputy Director of the Inspector-General of the Security Forces (Generální inspekce bezpečnostních sborů). 

Jiří Kolář, the former police chief who was a member of the commission that chose the new Police Commissioner on Saturday said that all of the candidates more or less shared the same concept of how the statewide police unit should operate. However, each of their ideas headed in a "particular direction".  

The former chief did not want to share any details of the projects presented by the candidates during their interviews. He said the seven-member commission elected Tuhý unanimously. 

Tuhý said some of the main staff changes at the Czech Police Presidium will involve the two Deputy Commissioner posts. He intends to announce a candidate search for someone to fill the available position of his first deputy, who should start work by 15 May.   

Candidate searches have also been issued for a Deputy Commissioner for the Criminal and Investigative Services, who should start work by 1 June. Tuhý will not be increasing the number of Deputy Commissioners. 

The new chief said he will propose the names of those he would like to staff his inner circle within a month for Chovanec’s approval. Petr Petřík, who became Deputy Police Commissioner for the Economy at the start of April, will be a member of the team.

The new Police Commissioner mentioned the fight against the producers and sellers of drugs in the Czech-German border region as one of his main tasks. "We have initiated another part of the working group meetings tasked with creating and evaluating our findings [about drugs on the border]. In the next few weeks the Czech and German Interior Ministries will hold follow-up meetings," Tuhý said.

Chovanec emphasized that the fight against corruption and financial crime is among the new Police Commissioner’s tasks. "His task is to prepare the start of the Cobra team so that it is effective and successful," the minister said. 

Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and Chovanec have been inspired by a corruption-investigation team called Cobra in Slovakia. The Czech version will be comprised of representatives of the customs administration, the financial administration, and the police. 

"We need to give the new Police Commissioner 100 days to bring forward and present the concept that he wants to promote," Jiří Ovčáček, spokesperson for Czech President Zeman, said today. The Police Commissioner post had been open since March, when the Interior Minister confirmed that Martin Červíček had been dismissed.