The police operation “Zapora”, which lasted over three years, ended on the Polish-Belarusian border. Although over 300 officers from Podlasie will continue to serve, police officers delegated from other parts of the country have returned to their units. This is related to the reduction in migration pressure.
– In November, there were 980 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border in our voivodeship. However, by December 22, this number is approximately 500 – says Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, spokeswoman for the Podlaskie Branch of the Border Guard, in an interview with tvn24.pl.
Lieutenant Colonel Andrzej Juźwiak, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard, compared the fact that on the entire border (also in the Lublin Voivodeship) in November there were over a thousand attempts to illegally cross the border, while in November 2023 there were over one and a half thousand of them.
A record was broken in spring, now the migration pressure is lower
– April and May 2024 were record-breaking, when we recorded approximately 5.5 thousand and 7.2 thousand attempts. In April and May 2023, these numbers were 2.5 thousand and 3.1 thousand, respectively. Currently, however, the migration pressure is decreasing – he emphasizes.
It was the decreasing migration pressure that led to the end of the police operation “Zapora” at the border.
For over three years, nearly 33,000 police officers served on the Polish-Belarusian border on a rotational basis.police.pl
There are over 300 policemen from Podlasie left
– This Border Guard it tells us what help is needed. Currently, over 300 officers from the Podlaskie Voivodeship will continue to serve at the border. However, policemen delegated from other parts of the country returned to their units, says junior inspector Tomasz Krupa, spokesman for the Podlasie police.
Since June 2021, for over three years, as many as 32,759 police officers have served on the Polish-Belarusian border on a rotational basis. Mainly from prevention departments. There were also counter-terrorists, traffic and criminal police officers, service dog handlers, and even pilots. Everyone supported the Border Guard and soldiers.
The service was performed mainly by police officers from riot police, but also by counter-terrorists and road traffic officers.police.pl
Damaged police car, injured as a result of the border attack
“The police's activities are primarily patrols directed around the clock to supervise points located several dozen/several hundred meters away from the border zone,” we read in a message on the police website.
The police also mention in the message about 25 police cars damaged at the border and about the November 2021 attack on the border crossing in Kuźnicaas a result of which several officers were injured. They also write about the tragic death of their colleague – the late soldier. Sergeant Mateusz Sitek.
The service consisted primarily of border patrolling police.pl
They checked cars to see if they were carrying migrants
As part of Operation Zapora, police also checked vehicles for transporting people who had illegally crossed the border.
“Since the beginning of the activities, over 2,233,707 such inspections have been carried out, which led to the arrest of 859 people illegally transporting migrants,” the statement reads.
Police officers also conducted training police.pl
There were also training sessions
8,715 migrants who were illegally on Polish territory were also detained. The police also trained Border Guard officers and soldiers in the following areas: tactics of conduct and actions taken against aggressive crowds, controlling them and intervening against people with dangerous tools.
Police pilots were also on duty at the border, using, among others, S70i Black Hawk and Bell 407GXi helicopters patrolled the area from the air.
Main photo source: police.pl