Police demote unit chief after officer’s drunk-driving crash
Friday 4th September 2026 on 16:45 in
Latvia
State Police have transferred a police unit chief in Liepaja to a lower position after recent violations, including a crash allegedly caused by an off-duty officer who was intoxicated, LSM reported, citing the LETA news agency.
Police received an alert from a vehicle’s eCall system at about 7.30 p.m. on Thursday that a road accident may have occurred on Zirnu Street, beyond the intersection with Jauna Street. Officers found a Skoda car, although no third-party property had been damaged.
A man was found next to the vehicle. He initially refused to cooperate with the officers. Police later established that he was an off-duty State Police employee, and measured 2.05 parts per thousand of alcohol in his breath.
Investigators carried out urgent procedural activities at the scene to secure evidence. The man was detained and taken to a short-term detention facility. Criminal proceedings have been launched over driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and the case materials will be transferred to the Internal Security Bureau according to jurisdiction.
The detained man works for a unit of the State Police Main Order Police Administration serving Liepaja and South Kurzeme municipality. The Skoda was his private vehicle.
State Police said an internal investigation had been launched because of violations recently identified in the unit. The unit’s chief was transferred to a lower position, the police said.
State Police leadership said there was no place in the force for people who break the law, and that such conduct would not be tolerated and would be punished. The police urged residents to report possible violations by law enforcement officers to the State Police Internal Control Bureau and the Internal Security Bureau, saying anonymity would be guaranteed.
At the end of July, during a city festival in Priekule, an off-duty police officer who was heavily intoxicated allegedly inflicted fatal injuries on a man during a conflict involving several people. Emergency medical workers tried to help him, but he died in an ambulance.