An overview of selected powers of municipal police officers

The power to require proof of identity is a basic power of a municipal police officer and accompanies almost everything an officer does. The statutory provision also imposes a duty on the person asked to prove their identity. No law requires you to carry an identity card with you; however, if you do not prove your identity to an officer, you may encounter further powers of the municipal police.

An officer may require proof of identity in the following cases: 

• from a person in respect of whom the officer is acting to carry out the tasks of the municipal police;
• from a person suspected of having committed a criminal offence, a minor offence or another administrative offence (a thief caught stealing, a driver stopped in a no-stopping zone, etc.);
• from a person who will need to give a statement (e.g. a witness to an incident);
• from a person matching the description of someone wanted by the police (if it turns out to be a different person, the officer has no further reason to restrict them in any way; otherwise the officer hands them over to the police without delay);
• at the request of another person, where that person has a legal interest in establishing the identity (e.g. a guest who has not paid the bill to the waiter, to whom the officer then passes on the details obtained);
• from a person who requests proof of identity under the previous point (e.g. the waiter);
• from a person reporting a suspected criminal offence, minor offence or other administrative offence (a witness, an injured party, etc.)

Officers bring a person in only in the cases laid down by law, either to the Police of the Czech Republic or to an administrative authority.

An officer may bring in a person: 

• who has refused to comply with the officer's request to prove their identity under Section 12(2), or who is unable to prove their identity even after the officer has provided the necessary assistance
• whose identity check shows that they are wanted by the police or reported missing.
• who, despite a repeated request from the officer, continues conduct that disturbs public order or endangers the life or health of other people or their own, or endangers property, and who cannot be prevented from doing so in any other way.
• at the request of the competent municipal authority under special legislation (to an administrative authority where that authority has issued a decision ordering the person to be brought in).

This power allows an officer to require the necessary explanations from a person who can help clarify facts important for uncovering a minor offence or another administrative offence or its perpetrator, and for establishing the true state of affairs. The officer may also ask the person to attend a specified place at a specified time so that a written record of the statement can be drawn up (usually at the municipal police office). To establish the true state of affairs, the officer may also require the production of the necessary documents.

This power also includes the option of bringing in a person who, without a sufficient excuse or a serious reason, fails to comply with the officer's request or instruction under the preceding provision.

Within their powers, an officer may take a weapon from a person:

• whom the officer is bringing in or restricting in their personal liberty, or against whom action is being taken because of their aggressive behaviour (before taking the weapon, the officer may check whether the person is carrying one)
• after an unsuccessful prior request to hand over the weapon in a publicly accessible place, where this is necessary to protect public order, the life and health of people or the security of property, and where there is a risk that the weapon may be used for violence or the threat of violence.

Other powers of municipal police officers are:

• the power to call on a person to provide necessary personal assistance or means
• the power to prohibit entry to designated places
• the power to open a dwelling or non-residential premises
• the power to seize an item
• the power to enter business premises, gaming rooms and casinos
• the power to use a vehicle immobilisation device
• the power to take a person to a detoxification unit
• the power to use coercive measures, a police dog and a service weapon
• the power to measure the speed of vehicles
• the power to stop vehicles
• the power to require documents under the zákon o provozu na pozemních komunikacích (Road Traffic Act)
• the power to require a person to undergo a preliminary test for alcohol or other addictive substances in the body, and the power to require that person to undergo a medical examination
• the power to check compliance with the conditions for special use of roads
• the power to check compliance with the conditions for taxi services under the zákon o silniční dopravě (Road Transport Act)
• the power to restrict the personal liberty of a person caught committing a criminal offence or immediately afterwards
• the power to cooperate with hunting, fishing, forest and nature conservation wardens to the extent laid down by special legislation

Further powers not listed here also arise from other acts, e.g. the Zákon o  ochraně před škodlivými účinky návykových látek (Act on the Protection of Health against the Harmful Effects of Addictive Substances), the Zákon o odpadech (Waste Act), etc.