CNN.com - Transcripts

MAIN PAGE
WORLD
U.S.
WEATHER
BUSINESS
SPORTS
POLITICS
LAW
SCI-TECH
SPACE
HEALTH
ENTERTAINMENT
TRAVEL
EDUCATION
CAREER
IN-DEPTH

QUICK NEWS
LOCAL
COMMUNITY
MULTIMEDIA
E-MAIL SERVICES
CNNtoGO
ABOUT US

CNN TV

what's on

show transcripts

CNN International
askCNN

EDITIONS

CNN.com Asia
CNN.com Europe
set your edition

CNN WORLD REPORT

Multiethnic Police Force in Kosovo Unites for Common Good

Aired September 2, 2001 - 14:05 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: Ethnic differences have also led to violence in Kosovo. So it may seem unusual to see people from various backgrounds coming together for a common cause. But that's taking place within a newly formed police force.

Unmik Television's Victoria Schultz talked with some of the officers trying to restore law and order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTORIA SCHULTZ, UNMIK TV REPORTER (voice-over): Police bring in people caught driving without a license, a daily routine for the new police service in Kosovo, a region in the Balkans the United Nations administers.

What is special, though, is that the arresting officers and everyone else working at the police station are from different ethnic groups. Albanians and Serbs, even Roma Gypsies, share patrols and duties, whereas in most other communities mistrust and enmity keep them apart. Law enforcement, not ethnic origin is what counts when a policeman tells the young men that they will have to see a judge about what they have done.

Twenty percent of the police force are women on active duty. Of the two chief investigators, one is an Albanian, the other one a Serb. Ethnic relations are good because the conflict here was less violent than elsewhere.

LJUBISA PERIC, POLICE OFFICER (through translator): Up to now everything is OK. The patrols are mixed and multiethnic. We have two Roma representatives. We are visiting all the villages. Serbs are going to Albanian villages, Albanians are going to Serb villages. We look for criminals together, so there's no problem for now.

SCHULTZ: International officers in Kosovo instruct the new police to follow democratic practices, a change from the previous system. An American officer heads the police in Kremnica. The force has seized substantial amounts of marijuana in bulk. The multiethnic police also found it sold on the street in match boxes.

The police chief trained his men and women to work together by appealing to their basic sense of survival.

GARY CAMPBELL, POLICE OFFICER: In the beginning we had them in four- or five-man patrols, and there would be like two and three of each in a group. Then we broke them down; we're trying to break them down now where they're entirely into twos.

SCHULTZ: In a predominantly Serb community, a farm machine blocks the road. A Serbian graduate of the new police academy intervenes. Village people feel comfortable addressing the police in their own language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm sick, I'm old. We don't have any help. We're not working.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Do you live here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yes, we live here, but life is very difficult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It will get better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We hope so.

SCHULTZ: Of the 4,000-strong Kosovo Police Service, 29 officers were recently promoted. The ones who stepped up in rank reflect the multiethnic nature of a new police that reaches out a helping hand to all communities. After only two years it has come a long way.

This is Victoria Schultz of Unmik Television reporting from Kosovo for CNN WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com