Former Israel Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz and other retired senior officers have recently criticized the way the police have functioned over the past year, wondering if the Mount Meron disaster, the surging crime in the Arab sector, the riots in mixed cities, and overall public dissatisfaction with the force, indicate that the police have turned into a security apparatus that is unable to perform its primary mission: protecting the public.
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Commander Boaz Goldberg, head of human resources at the Israel Police, says that while criticism is warranted, the situation is hardly as bleak as Hefetz and other retired police brass made it appear.
"I'm not looking for cheerleaders to tell me how well I'm doing, but I do not accept the claims of the former commissioners who dare to criticize the police," Goldberg said. "Some of them served in the police a long time ago and they are no longer familiar with the organization's processes and considerations."
"There is no doubt that the past year was very challenging - the Miron disaster, the riots during Operation Guardian of the Walls, and the sharp increase in homicides in the Arab community. There have been claims that the police were not prepared for the disturbances in mixed towns, but I am not aware of any organization that functions at 100% in extreme events. The number of police officers available in routine is not sufficient for such events, and it took us a few hours before we were ready Nevertheless, we prepared quickly enough. We called up reserve forces and we diverted forces to hotspots."
The former commissioners said things that the public also thinks: The crisis of faith between the police force and citizens and the declining status of police officers cannot be ignored.
"The police with the minimal resources available are collapsing under the weight of the missions it is required to fulfill, and in addition, it has to enforce coronavirus regulations, so at the end of the day, the public pays the price. This comes at the expense of other missions. We do not have enough officers to do everything. We are a small and smart police force. But that requires budgets as well because you can't make something out of nothing"
Q: What led to the wave of resignations by police officers this year?
"In 2021, a total of 603 officers resigned from the force, 150 more than in 2019. I won't discuss 2020, because that was the year of the coronavirus and the number of those who resigned was low. The wave of resignations is a trend that is not unique to the police force. It is a global trend that characterizes the young generation. Generation Z feels less committed to its place of work and is looking for the next stage in life. You can see such phenomena in other security organizations in Israel as well, and in the private sector, including in high-tech.
"On the other hand, in an organization where salaries aren't high and work hours are long, then sometimes the sense of duty is overwhelmed by the great pressure endured. There isn't a single police officer who hasn't done weekend shifts. The police officers are burned out. I have spoken with officers who have resigned and some of them saw that in the private sector they could earn more. They work for a low salary and are under heavy pressure. Others spoke of the inability to create a life-work balance. There were others yet who said the organization was too trigger-happy when it came to calling officers in from home. They think it's not always necessary and we want to correct that.
"Another issue is the way they are treated by their commanders. We have removed several officers from their positions, and we have set up a special team to make sure that commanders do not mistreat their subordinates. As soon as the organization gives better service to its people, police officers will give better service to the public.
"I am sure that there are police officers who feel uncomfortable being in uniform because of the poor image of the police. For years everybody has been down on us, from politicians, the media, and the public. If nobody likes you, then it's a sign that you are doing your job. I often say to police officers: 'be strong carry out your mission and most of the problems connected to the image of the force will sort themselves out.'"
Q: What needs to be done so that they can feel comfortable with the organization they serve with?
"We surveyed 25,000 out of the 32,000 officers currently serving in the police force. The initial findings point to burnout resulting from long work hours, low wages, and the way they are treated by commanders. In the wake of these results, the Police Commissioner declared 2022 as the 'Year of the Police Officer.' We initiated a project called 'Windbreaker' in which the police will provide staff with better terms and conditions. We will send police officers on workshops and vacations. We will make sure they are treated properly by commanders. We will invest professionally and we will defend police officers who have had complaints filed against them, who have been threatened, or who have been shamed on social networks.
"The program will also include rent and mortgage assistance for police officers. For the first time, we have allocated NIS 34 million from our budget to give out excellence awards. Each district commander will be allowed to give financial bonuses to outstanding police officers. Another thing that is important to us is to reduce the number of weekly work hours from 47.5 to 42, which is the average number of weekly work hours in the Israeli economy"
Q: Since when do security organizations punch a time card?
"There is no entity in Israel that endures the conditions endured by the police. The goal is to reduce burnout by cutting half an hour a day and setting a police officer's shift at eight hours. People didn't used to believe that it was possible to cut the number of workdays from six to five, but it happened. It is only the police that has remained in the same place."
There is no entity in Israel that endures the conditions endured by the police" (Michel Dot Com/File) Michel Dot Com
Superintended Goldberg, 58, joined the police force 33 years ago, serving initially with the Yamam counterterrorism unit. In 1990, he took part in an operation on the southern border in which his unit neutralized a terrorist cell that had infiltrated into Israel and was awarded an order of bravery for his role. He is married to Eti, a surgical nurse, with whom he has four children: Ohad, 34, who serves as head of the central region drug squad; Avihu, 32, who is a police bomb disposal expert; Ophir, 30, a woodwork artist and decorator; and 'A', 23, who serves in a classified Border Police unit.
Q: How much does a police officer fresh out of training earn?
They make around NIS 9000 a month, gross, which works out at a net salary of around NIS 7400. Five or six years ago that sum stood at NIS 5000, and we are talking about people who work around the clock, including weekend shifts, and being on-call. Today, a police officer who joins the force can get rent assistance if he lives a certain distance away from where he works and there are various operational increments, for example for service in Jerusalem. But I agree that the police force does not pay its officers properly and we need a bigger budget.
"We are one of the smallest police forces in the OECD, and we have to do a lot with what we have: We deal with security challenges that do not exist in other countries. In Israel, there are on average 3.5 police officers per 1,000 people but that calculation is problematic because it includes 8, 000 Border Police who do not participate in patrols, traffic enforcement, or investigations. If we remove the Border Police from the calculation, then we have roughly 2.5 police officers per 1,000 residents. For comparison's sake, in Greece, there are 4.7 police officers for every 1,000 residents and in Italy, 4.5 We do not have enough officers."
Q: The police have always had to deal with budgetary issues. What's changed now?
Today everybody understands the critical importance of the police in maintaining national security: Security threats, battles on the cyber front and missiles, growing domestic threats. Crime is becoming more sophisticated. It is moving into the cyber dimension and the police must be one step ahead of the criminals. On the ground, we have to deal with lone-wolf terrorism, protests where police are subjected to violence, crime families that have entrenched their grip on the Arab community, and public corruption."
"The population of Israel has grown significantly in recent years but the police force has not. There is no correlation between the number of residents and the number of police officers. Some towns have doubled in size but no staff has been added to local police stations.
"The State of Israel must decide whether it wants a good police force or whether it wishes to finish off the police force. If it wants a good police force, then it needs to add manpower and budgets because otherwise, it is the public that is harmed. So can I tell you we have enough manpower? No. On the other hand, I can't tell the government that I won't carry out orders."
Q: Are you referring to enforcement of coronavirus regulations?
"The police force is the enforcement body; there is no one else."
Q: What would you do differently?
"I would expect that on such issues, the state and local authorities would take responsibility."
Q: Does having to enforce mask-wearing and quarantine impact police work?
"We are one of the only police forces in the world that deals so extensively with enforcement and we have handed out the highest number of fines. Obviously, this mission affects us, comes at the expense of other policing missions, and stretches our manpower to the limit, and more than anything it impacts the relationship between police and citizens. Coronavirus enforcement creates friction with the public, most of which is law-abiding and normative.
"We drew conclusions and learned lessons from the first waves, we released documentation of confrontations with civilians from officers' body cameras, and we feel that criticism of the police on this matter has declined. Today we deal more with providing information, with enforcement against serial violators, and with places with a high potential for infection. The public must know that adhering to restrictions is a personal responsibility and enforcement is not a replacement."
Last month, after three years without a budget, the state budget for 2021-2023. The budget allocates NIS 14 billion for the police for the coming year, and a further NIS 2 billion, specifically designated mostly for crime in the Arab sector.
"In the past three years, the force hasn't grown by even one police officer and we were unable to make technological advances," says Goldberg. The Police Commissioner asked a further 5,000 officers, but in the end, only 1,100, which is not an insignificant number, were approved. All told, 90% of those positions will be allocated for field personnel - primarily for police stations in the Arab sector and the expansion of the Border Police for backup purposes so that we will be prepared for extreme events.
The police officers will be more available to the public. A citizen who calls the 100 hotline will see a greater response, there will be more patrol cars on the road, more forces at police stations to deal with crime, such as car theft, burglaries, and disputes between neighbors. Local police forces will not be required to provide backup as much as they were before, for example for disturbances in Jerusalem because the Border Police will respond.
Q: There has been a deterioration in police deterrence. People are less afraid of the police and do not hesitate to confront officers, insult them, or document them with video on social media
"It is true that there has been an erosion in the deterrence of the police. This derives to a great extent from the lack of support they have received they received from certain elements. For example, the questioning of two Border Police officers who recently neutralized a terrorist at the Damascus Gate harms deterrence. Around 70% of the criminals caught today for possession of firearms don't sit a single day in prison. A police officer works 24 hours a day, writes up a report, brings the suspect to court, only to find that the courts release the suspect home."
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"A few days ago, we arrested a young man from Rishon Lezion who wrote on Facebook 'Murder Shabtai [Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai], and the sooner the better.' The man was calling for the murder of the police commissioner. He was brought before a court which decided to send him home. That is very frustrating for the police officers. It weakens them and their ability to act."
Q: Perhaps the decline in deterrence is connected to the decline in public trust in the police. Every year the police force reports a decline in criminal activity. But at the same time, we see gunfire on the roads in the south, and the settling of accounts between crime families.
"At the end of the day, it's difficult to change perceptions. The deployment of special units in the battle against crime will bring results, and there has already has been a change. A few months ago, to reestablish deterrence in mass disturbances such as the events of Guardian of the Walls, the Police Commissioner instructed that police resume using batons after 20 years in which they had not been in use."
Q: Will the use of batons return public trust in the police?
"What will return public trust is the support the police force will give to its officers with the new budget. Because if things are good for the police officers, things will be better for the public.
Despite the tendency to bash the police and to talk about public trust, every day we receive over 100 requests to join the police force. Given the planned addition in the number of officers, we recently launched an advertising campaign calling on people to join the police force, and the number of approaches we received has doubled. This alone shows that the Israel Police is considered an organization that plays a significant role in Israeli society.
"The selection process will go on for a year. But these numbers will allow us to recruit those who are the most suitable."
