MP Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis: The killers might have been from Russia or Ukraine

© Mārtiņš ZILGALVIS, F64 Photo Agency

The murder of football agent Romāns Bezzubovs in broad daylight gave a new reason for public dissatisfaction with police work. Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, a deputy who does not belong to the Saeima factions and personally knew the person killed, is also among the dissatisfied, but he does not blame the police officers.

The politician is convinced that the ability of the police not only to react to the events, but also to prevent them has been negatively affected by the liquidation of the police academy, but assessing the tragedy, he admits that there have been no events in the Latvian football environment that could have provoked murder.

You knew the murdered person, why do you think this murder was committed?

I have no clue. It's hard to believe that anything like this could have happened to Romāns. As far as I knew him, he absolutely falls out of the ranks of the people with whom something like this has happened - Pāvels Rebenoks, Mārtiņš Bunkus. Romāns was an athlete…

You think the killers are not locals and they don't take our law enforcement officers seriously, but how can the police prevent such "migrant workers" from entering the country?

This is purely my speculation because it is very difficult for me to imagine that something like this could happen because of some local football events. It's very hard for me to believe. That is why such a conclusion, that it was possibly due to the fact that he had worked with Ukrainian and Russian footballers.

Kaspars KRAFTS, F64 Photo Agency

I believe that the style of crime and how it was committed show how the criminals themselves perceive the risk of being caught. I think: if the murderers' assessment of the capabilities of the Latvian police were serious, the murder would not take place in daylight, it would not take place in a densely populated area, it would not be so blatantly open.

In my opinion, the fact that the murder took place in exactly this way shows the attitude of the criminals, the assessment of the probability of being caught.

Of course, capturing the arrival of murderers is not possible so easily because it is not written on their foreheads that they are killers. But in my opinion, the police do not just have to react to things that have already happened - block roads, run drones… I believe that the police must have an understanding of what is happening in the criminal underground. It would help, if not to predict events, then to guess how these criminals will behave and what they will do.

And about the liquidated police academy. Sorry, police officers and investigators need education. Also from my experience in the Budget Committee, seeing the proposals coming from the internal affairs bodies, I see that the purpose of the proposed amendments is to attract certified auditors for the consultation of the employees of the internal affairs system. It is difficult for them to navigate those documents themselves, the degradation in the police is obvious. I won't even count how many loud cases we've had that end with nothing.

You associate the New Conservative Party (Jaunā konservatīvā partija) and KPV LV initiative to allow gambling only in high-end hotels with efforts to divert public attention from the rapid rise in crime. What makes you think that?

Of course, those draft laws were submitted several days before. But anyway, if you are politically responsible for home affairs, then the day after such events you should think carefully about what you would do and offer.

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