The newest unit in the State Police, the Maritime one, consisting of 104 officers and 35 "jet skis", starts work on the entire coastline.
This unit will operate during the summer season to ensure the safety of the beaches and compliance with the rules, mainly by water motor vehicles.
The plan for the creation of this structure dedicated to safety on the beaches started after the tragic event of the summer of 2022, where 7-year-old Jonada Avdia was killed in Himare after being hit by a boat driven by police officer Arjan Tase.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, present at the ceremony of launching the work of this unit, emphasized that the criminal act of that individual who shamed the entire State Police, brought down the state and made us all blush like never before, should serve everyone police officers as an alarm bell.
"I promised that this unit would be named after the little girl. In full understanding with her family, we agreed that this should not be done. But on the other hand, that memory should be the motive for the work, the effort and the motive for the success of this unit, so that the terrible loss of the family and the entire Albanian people serves so that the children, parents, families, visitors, tourists feel safe , calm and happy in those days that they can't wait to rest", said Rama.
The Prime Minister asked for a quiet tourist season and issued a warning to police officers.
The Prime Minister emphasized that he has asked the Director General that for any such case, measures against the head of the district police, against the head of the police station and against those who cover the area should be drastic, immediate and permanent removal from the Police of the State.
"If we want this country to become the champion of the Balkans in tourism in 2030, first of all this means that this country guarantees for every tourist, for every visitor, for every vacationer Albanian or foreign, a calmness, a order, a cleanliness, an unforgettable ease, so that the foreigners who come here and who are always more and more numerous, leave with the memory that they found in Albania what they did not expect. Absolute respect, safety and courtesy, first of all from the employees of the State Police, from the employees of the Traffic Police, from the employees in the tourist territories and of course even now from the employees of the new unit of control and guarantee of security and tranquility in the waters of the Albanian coast", said Rama.
According to him, "this is a mission, this is not just a task".
"This is a mission for the Albanian people, for the Albanian nation, for the Albanian state and anyone who violates the sense of this mission, anyone who behaves indecently with those who come to our house or who move from their house here, to go and to rest, they will receive the maximum punishment because it should be considered in a hostile position with this national mission, unworthy to be part of this force", he said.
For the Minister of the Interior, Bledi Çuçi, the new dimension of tourism in our country made it necessary to set up this unit.