In the room where Municipal Police officers receive residents, a cross was hung next to the national emblem. The matter raised questions about the ideological neutrality of public institutions, which—as required by applicable regulations—should remain impartial on religious matters.

The editorial team contacted the Municipal Police commander, Kamila Chalewicz-Pudłowska, asking for a comment: who decided to hang the religious symbol, when it happened, and whether it was an individual initiative or an official decision by the unit’s management. We also asked whether the regulations concerning the ideological neutrality of offices and public units had been taken into account.

To this day, we have received no response. The commander provided no comment, either in writing or by telephone.

“The placement of religious symbols in public-institution spaces may raise serious doubts as to respect for the state’s ideological neutrality. It should be recalled that, pursuant to Article 10(1) of the Act on Guarantees of Freedom of Conscience and Religion, the Republic of Poland is a secular state, neutral in matters of religion and belief. Displaying religious symbols on the premises of an institution established to protect public order, such as the Municipal Police, may raise serious doubts as to what approach representatives of that unit will take while carrying out their legally prescribed function,” says attorney-at-law Marcin Pawelec-Jakowiecki, a lawyer cooperating with Fundacja Wolność od Religii.

“In Poland, understanding what the state is and why the ideological neutrality of state institutions is so important remains weak. The female municipal police commander is probably a decent woman who believes that her private worldview more or less corresponds to what the Polish state is. Many people may have a common, informal notion that the Polish state more or less reproduces their private ideas about what patriotism and traditional customs are. Yet that is not the case, and the commander, as a state official, will have to come to understand this. Thank you for trying to make her aware of it,” says Rafał Betlejewski from the foundation Grupa Inicjatywa.

Due to the silence of the Municipal Police leadership, we are referring the matter to:

  • Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Fundacja Wolność od Religii
  • Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights