Efficiency of purchases of police equipment worth CZK 2.4 billion: there are enough women's jackets in warehouses nearly for the next 50 years, other equipment is in short supply
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 23/10 – 20 January 2025
The Ministry of the Interior (MoI) purchased equipment worth CZK 2.4 billion between 2018 and 2022 without taking into account the needs of police officers. The result was surplus supplies on the one hand and a shortage of equipment on the other. For example, there are women's jackets in the MoI warehouses that will continue to be issued for almost 50 years at the current rate of use. On the other hand, for example, the MoI purchased only six thousand work overalls in 2019 instead of the 12,000 needed, and in 2022 there was a shortage of some polo shirts. Despite the introduction of an e-shop dispensing system and then the closure of four garment dispensing centres, the cost of distributing the equipment has not decreased, but rather increased. The MoI has also not taken effective steps to restrict the sale of police equipment to people on the internet. This was shown by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) audit focused on the state budget funds spent on the acquisition, storage and disposal of the equipment of the Police of the Czech Republic.
According to the auditors, the MoI did not meet even one of the seven objectives of the Concept for the Development of the Police of the Czech Republic until 2020, which it set itself for the field of equipment. Thus, by the time the audit was completed, i.e. by the end of 2023, it had not created a modern system of equipping police officers and did not procure supplies of equipment efficiently.
The MoI did not procure equipment based on the needs of the police officers. For nine selected types of equipment, the SAO's audit showed that by the end of 2022, inventories were roughly 2.7 times higher than what the Ministry itself determined to be optimal. This is illustrated by the following examples: police officers “need” approximately 6,500 sweaters per year. At the beginning of 2021, there were approximately 19,000 sweaters in stock. Nevertheless, the MoI increased the order by 20% and purchased 30,000 sweaters instead of 25,000. It has thus purchased equipment that will be “utilised” by police officers for more than seven years. A similar situation occurred with the high police boots - at the end of June 2022, the stock was 4.5 times higher than the optimal stock. Nevertheless, the MoI increased the stock of these boots by a further 3,716 pairs to a total of 27,043 pairs in July 2022. Therefore, the SAO evaluated the funds for the acquisition of equipment above the optimal stock as inefficient on the selected sample of equipment.
The MoI did not monitor the operating costs of the garment dispensing centres and only obtained an overview of them following the SAO audit. The introduction of the e-shop in 2018 had not resulted in a reduction in the cost of distributing equipment by the time the audit was completed. On the contrary, in 2019, these costs have increased by approximately CZK 9 million, despite the fact that the Ministry has closed down four garment dispensing centres. Equipment distributed through the e-shop accounted for less than one-third of the equipment issued after five years of its existence.
The MoI has not taken effective steps to restrict the sale of police equipment on the Internet either. The SAO found that on three advertising second-hand portals, equipment such as boots, overalls, trousers, T-shirts, shirts and sweaters were offered for sale to the public.
In the audit sample of 12 public contracts for the acquisition of equipment worth more than CZK 676 million, the SAO found that for eight of them, i.e. two thirds, the MoI did not impose and enforce contractual penalties for late delivery of equipment in the total amount of CZK 3.9 million without objective reason. The Ministry claimed the contractual penalties only after the SAO audit. However, by then part of the claims amounting to CZK 2.3 million had already been time-barred. The MoI thus violated three laws - on property, on public procurement and on budgetary rules.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office