A new investigation published on Thursday, May 21, by independent journalists at Recorder revealed how political connections trumped competence in the leadership appointments in the Romanian Police, allegedly contributing to delayed reactions, failed investigations, and a lack of safety.
According to data collected by Recorder from all county police inspectorates across the country, more than 600 leadership positions in the Romanian Police were occupied through temporary appointment. Out of the 41 county inspectorates, almost one-third were led by chief inspectors appointed through temporary delegation.
Political control
The delegations bypassed “the evaluation of an officer’s competencies and made them dependent on the decision of the person who appointed them, favoring political control, especially in the case of important leadership positions,” according to the authors of the investigation.
The practice began years ago, encouraged by various interior ministers, irrespective of party. The result was a pyramidal system of power that started at the level of the interior minister.
“The head of the General Police Inspectorate is appointed by the prime minister, upon the proposal of the minister of internal affairs. Further down, the politically appointed police chief can propose to the minister of internal affairs the temporary appointment of county inspectorate chiefs. In turn, inspectorate chiefs can temporarily appoint heads of municipal and town police departments, as well as service heads under their authority. Those appointed through delegation can be replaced at any time by those who installed them in office,” the journalists claimed.
To confirm the findings, Recorder spoke with three of the ministers of internal affairs from the past ten years, namely Carmen Dan (Social Democratic Party), Marcel Vela (National Liberal Party), and Catalin Predoiu (National Liberal Party). All admitted that temporary appointments were a vulnerability for the Romanian Police and claimed to have taken measures to reduce the phenomenon.
Among them, Carmen Dan admitted that regional PSD leaders pressured her to name specific people as heads of county inspectorates, despite leadership contests.
Recorder also spoke to police union leaders during their investigation. One of them, Vitalie Josanu, was criticized and discredited nationally by several TV stations after speaking to the journalists.
Police heads dismiss investigation
In response, the Romanian Police stated that official data contradicted Recorder’s claim that temporary appointments to leadership positions were a common practice. The same source argued that the investigation presented “truncated information” and aimed to “destabilize the institutions of the Romanian state in the area of public order and justice.”
Police Chief Georgian Drăgan, director of the office of the inspector general of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, said that the Recorder article was based “only on the opinions of certain union leaders, which are maliciously presented as factually proven data.”
According to him, the current minister of internal affairs ordered “measures to accelerate the process of filling leadership positions through examinations, to consolidate managerial stability in Romanian Police structures and, implicitly, reduce the number of leadership positions ensured through temporary appointment.”
Police heads noted that between 2023 and 2026, approximately 3,900 examinations were organized for filling leadership positions. As a result, more than 2,500 positions were filled.
Moreover, according to the data presented by the Romanian Police, more than 9% of leadership positions in the Police were occupied through temporary appointment, down from over 10% in January 1, 2026.
“At the level of the entire institution (Romanian Police, namely IGPR, DGPMB, and county police inspectorates), out of a total of more than 7,100 leadership positions, approximately 450 officer positions and 200 police agent positions are ensured through temporary appointment,” said the Interior Ministry.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)
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