Anykščiai rewards police officers for drug enforcement

Anykščiai has become the first municipality in Lithuania to offer police officers financial rewards for results in tackling drugs, LRT reports. The decision has been welcomed by the police union, while a criminologist warns that bonuses for solved cases could raise recorded crime figures without reducing drug use.

Mayor Kęstutis Tubis awarded two officers cash bonuses totalling 500 euros for their contribution to reducing the availability of drugs in the municipality. He said the measure was intended to reduce drug supply and that progress depended on police performance.

Roma Katinienė, head of the Lithuanian Police Trade Union, backed the initiative and said she hoped other municipalities would follow. She said police lacked sufficient resources to fund incentives for investigating priority crimes, and that municipal support could motivate officers.

Residents were divided. Some argued that officers should do their jobs without bonuses, while others said the payments could be justified given police salaries, provided officers did their work honestly. A local addiction counsellor supported the decision, saying drug problems were significant, particularly in small towns, and that additional measures to encourage prevention were justified.

Criminologist Gintautas Sakalauskas, an associate professor at Vilnius University, was sceptical. He said Anykščiai had recorded 17 offences in the past year involving possession of drugs without intent to distribute, which are generally easier to investigate than theft or fraud.

Sakalauskas said rewarding officers based on case numbers could encourage more recorded offences, but would not resolve drug use. He described the approach as unjustified from a criminological perspective, arguing that the number of cases is not the same as a reduction in crime.

The bonuses are funded by Anykščiai municipality, but the Utena County Police Headquarters, which oversees police in Anykščiai, decides which officers receive them. Utena District Municipality has not announced plans to offer similar bonuses, so its officers will not receive them.