Police demote vehicle supervision chief after Liepāja violations

Latvia’s State Police has demoted the head of its vehicle supervision unit after several serious violations involving officers in the Kurzeme region, LSM reported, citing TV Kurzeme.

Last Thursday evening in Liepāja, an emergency call was triggered by the eCall system in a crashed Škoda. Officers who arrived at the scene found a man who initially refused to cooperate. He was identified as the chief inspector of the State Police’s Vehicle Supervision Unit and was found to have a blood alcohol level of 2.05 parts per thousand.

Investigators immediately carried out urgent investigative measures at the scene to record and secure evidence. The officer has served in the police for 26 years and works in Liepāja and South Kurzeme Municipality. Police have not disclosed how the crash occurred.

Andris Zellis, deputy chief of the State Police, said a decision would be made on the specific security measure to be applied and that the officer would be suspended from duty.

The incident followed a fatal beating in late July, when a junior inspector allegedly killed lecturer Normunds Vamzis in a public place while under the influence of alcohol. The officer remains in custody.

The Internal Security Bureau said it could not comment because all necessary investigative actions were still being carried out in the criminal proceedings. It said information on the investigation would be provided when doing so would not harm the proceedings.

Oskars Dille, head of the State Police Main Board’s Vehicle Supervision Unit, has been demoted in connection with the drunk-driving case. Zellis said the decision was also linked to five State Police officials detained by the Internal Security Bureau at the end of August on suspicion of bribery.