Efficiency of purchases of police equipment worth CZK 2.4 billion: there are women's jackets in warehouses for almost 50 years, while other equipment is in short supply

The Ministry of the Interior (MoI) purchased CZK 2.4 billion worth of equipment between 2018 and 2022 without taking into account the needs of police officers. The result was surplus supplies on the one hand and a shortage of equipment on the other. For example, there are women's jackets in the MV warehouses that will continue to be issued for almost 50 years at the current consumption. On the other hand, for example, the Ministry of Interior purchased only six thousand work overalls in 2019 instead of the 12,000 needed, and in 2022 there was a shortage of some polo shirts. Despite the introduction of an e-shop dispensing system and then the closure of four garment dispensing centres, the cost of distributing the equipment has not decreased, but rather increased. The MoI has also not taken effective steps to restrict the sale of police gear to people on the internet. This was shown by the SAO audit focused on the state budget funds spent on the acquisition, storage and disposal of Police equipment.

According to the auditors, the Ministry of the Interior did not meet any of the seven objectives of the Concept for the Development of the Police of the Czech Republic until 2020, which it had set itself for the field of equipment. By the time the audit was completed, i.e. by the end of 2023, it had not created a modern system of equipping police officers and had not procured supplies of equipment efficiently.

The Ministry of Interior did not procure equipment based on the needs of police officers. For nine selected types of equipment, the SAO audit showed that by the end of 2022, the inventories were about 2.7 times higher than the Ministry itself had determined to be optimal. This is illustrated by the following examples: police officers "consume" approximately 6,500 sweaters per year. At the beginning of 2021, there were approximately 19,000 in stock. Nevertheless, the MoI increased the order by 20 % and procured 30 000 sweaters instead of 25 000. Thus, it purchased equipment that will be "consumed" by police officers for more than seven years. A similar situation occurred with the police high boots - at the end of June 2022, there was 4.5 times the optimal stock. Nevertheless, the MoI increased the stock of these boots by a further 3,716 pairs to a total of 27,043 pairs in July 2022. Therefore, the SAO assessed the expenditure of funds on the acquisition of equipment in excess of the optimal stock as inefficient on a sample of equipment.

The Ministry of the Interior did not monitor the operating costs of clothing dispensaries and only obtained an overview of them after an audit by the SAO. The introduction of the e-shop in 2018 had not resulted in a reduction in the cost of distributing equipment by the time the audit was completed. On the contrary, in 2019, these costs have increased by approximately CZK 9 million, despite the fact that the Ministry has closed down four garment dispensaries. Equipment distributed through the e-shop accounted for less than one-third of the equipment issued after five years of its existence.

The Ministry of Interior has not taken effective steps to restrict the sale of police equipment on the Internet either. The SAO found that on three classified websites, equipment such as boots, overalls, trousers, shirts, shirts and sweaters were offered for sale to the public.

In the audit sample of 12 public procurement contracts for the acquisition of equipment worth more than CZK 676 million. The SAO found that for eight of them, i.e. two thirds, the Ministry of Interior did not apply and enforce contractual penalties in the total amount of CZK 3.9 million without objective reason. CZK for late delivery of equipment. The Ministry claimed the contractual penalties only after the SAO audit. However, by then part of the claims amounting to CZK 2.3 million had already been made. CZK 2.3 million had expired. The MoI thus violated three laws - on property, on public procurement and on budgetary rules.

SAO/ gnews - RoZ

ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO by Dario Daniel Silva on Unsplash