After a short chase through the streets of the capital, police officers detained an officer of the State Protection Service, who had nearly 2.5 per mille of alcohol in his body, tvn24.pl found out. – We apply the zero-tolerance principle, which is why the SOP commander ordered to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the officer – says the spokesman for the service, Colonel Bogusław Piórkowski.
According to the information obtained by tvn24.pl, the incident took place yesterday after 6 pm. The perpetrator of the minor collision fled the scene. The victim followed him, calling the police. – The victim provided the current route of the perpetrator on an ongoing basis. One of the patrols on Przyczółkowa Street managed to stop him. The driver was intoxicated, he had nearly 2.5 per mille of alcohol in his body – the spokesman for the Warsaw police, Chief Commissioner Sylwester Marczak, told us.
Marczak did not comment on the information that the drunk man is an SOP officer. This was admitted by the spokesman of the formation, Colonel Bogusław Piórkowski. – An off-duty officer caused a collision while intoxicated. The investigation is being carried out by the Metropolitan Police Headquarters. In these types of situations, we apply a zero-tolerance policy. The commander of the SOP ordered to immediately initiate disciplinary proceedings against the officer, he said.
As tvn24.pl found out in SOP, the officer was on duty that day. – He must have been drinking right after work. Earlier, there was information that he had a problem with alcohol – says our interlocutor from SOP.
The formation, whose main task is to protect Polish VIPs, has been headed by Colonel Radosław Jaworski since the beginning of November last year. He is the fourth commander in a row since the PiS government liquidated the Government Protection Bureau and built the State Protection Service in its place.
Lots of VIPs
– The main problem of this service is that it protects too many people. This exceeds the staff possibilities, and they run away to it pension the most experienced – says tvn24.pl one of the officers.
Indeed, SOP has never in its history cared about the safety of so many VIPs. In addition to the constitutional ministers, these are also m.in. judge of the Constitutional Court Christina Pawlowiczformer deputy minister of interior and administration Jarosław Zieliński or, until recently, also the former president of state television Jacek Kurski. That is why there is an idea among PiS politicians to squeeze the SOP into the police structures.
– It would then be an office subordinated to the Chief of Police. The SOP could use the entire police infrastructure. Maybe a good idea, but how to explain that we are liquidating the service that we have recently created – he says PiS MP.
Main photo source: Leszek Szymanski/PAP