The rise of foreign gangs in Poland has become an increasing concern for law enforcement, as police officers find themselves overstretched and under-resourced. In large cities, gangs of foreigners are growing stronger, posing significant challenges to a police force already dealing with chronic understaffing and low morale.
Sergeant Jacek Łukasik, a police officer from Nowy Sącz and head of the National Police Union, has sounded the alarm, describing the current situation as a “crisis.”
“Criminal groups composed of foreigners have become rampant, which is already visible in large cities. If we don’t start investing in the police now, we will soon face a gang war for influence in Poland,” Łukasik warned as cited by Wirtualna Polska.
Polish police officers have scheduled a nationwide protest for later this month with more than 10,000 officers reportedly participating. The protest will see officers intentionally slow down their work to draw attention to their grievances. The police unions are demanding better working conditions, higher wages, and increased staffing levels, warning that the force is currently short by over 14,000 officers, leaving some regions with only a fraction of the patrols they need.
“Instead of the four or five patrols required in a given area, we are only able to deploy one. This is a fall in service quality, and we are at our wits’ end,” Łukasik told local media.
He cited one case in support of his claims where a married couple identified burglars at their home through CCTV. Despite reporting the crime to the police, a patrol unit took 40 minutes to arrive, by which time the criminals had fled with the couples’ valuables.
Foreign gangs, particularly those from Ukraine and Georgia, have become a growing issue, with organized criminal activity specifically focused on drug trafficking and cybercrime. A surge in foreign crime last year across Poland is partly attributed to the large number of Ukrainian citizens residing in the country — over 2.5 million — while Georgian gangs also have a considerable presence.
Andrzej Juźwiak, spokesman for the Headquarters of the Border Guard, revealed the significant increase in crimes committed by foreigners in Poland last year, up by 2,400 cases to 17,300.
A concerted effort is being made by the authorities to speed up deportations of foreign criminals recently released from Polish prisons with greater cooperation between the Border Guard and penal administrative staff, but police unions warn they are still fighting a losing battle.
A key issue is the retention rate for newly recruited police officers with claims that pay is too low for the job at hand, resulting in many leaving the profession after just a few years.
“A front-line officer should be earning between PLN 10,000 (€23,200) and PLN 12,000 (€2,785) per month,” Łukasik said. “Otherwise, it will not be possible to attract people at the appropriate level.” An officer fresh out of the police academy can currently expect to earn around 6,000 PLN (€1,400) per month.
The government has proposed a 5 percent wage increase for next year, but police unions argue that this is insufficient. Unions are also calling for more significant budgetary increases to tackle both the staffing shortages and the rise in foreign crime, demanding the police budget be increased to 25 billion PLN (€5.8 billion), far higher than the 20.2 billion PLN (€4.7 billion) currently planned.
Union chiefs are expected to continue liaising with Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak in the coming weeks to address the deepening crisis amid fears that without urgent intervention and increased resources, law enforcement will be unable to effectively protect the public and create a vacuum to be filled predominantly by foreign organized crime groups.
