“I am the last person who will criticise the officers, but the system does not work and that is the problem. If we have known for some time that such things are happening, then everyone operating on the front line should have been warned. Above all, police officers should be informed, because they have the greatest means to verify such reports,” said former Commander-in-Chief of the State Fire Service, Gen. Andrzej Bartkowiak, in an interview with Niezależna.pl, commenting on the forced entry by emergency services into the family apartment of President Karol Nawrocki in Gdańsk.
Intervention at the President’s apartment
On Saturday evening, emergency services received an anonymous report about a fire at the family home of President Karol Nawrocki in Gdańsk. Firefighters and police forcibly entered the premises by breaking down the door. During the several-minute intervention, no fire or any persons inside the apartment were found.
The incident fits into a series of similar actions directed against journalists of TV Republika and former head of the National Security Bureau Sławomir Cenckiewicz.
False reports and the helplessness of the services
We asked Gen. Bartkowiak whether it is possible to verify information about a fire or a life-threatening situation inside a premises without forcing entry.
Our interviewee stressed that for 20 years he worked in an operational firefighting unit, both as a commander and as a firefighter under other commanders. “As far as I can recall and try to remember my operations, and I had quite a lot of them, such an action never ended with the apartment being empty. One was particularly symptomatic. I remember that when we arrived, we started checking with neighbours because there were no signs of fire. When we asked them, they told us that the residents were away, but they were in contact with their family. They called them in my presence and handed me the phone as the incident commander. I learned that they had the keys and that if we waited 40-50 minutes, they would arrive and open the apartment. We then entered together, formally, in the presence of the police. We checked everything, everything was fine, and we left,” the firefighter recalled.
He emphasised that such operations “take place dozens of times every day”. “The fact that false alarms occur is natural, I understand that. I do not even blame the officers, but the system failed,” Gen. Bartkowiak assessed.
“We have known for around two weeks that these cascading reports are coming in, so firefighters and police officers should have been made aware by their superiors: ‘listen, we don’t know if this is true, check the doors, look through the windows, bring in a ladder (you can look through the window), walk around the building, ask questions’. It is obvious that if there are signs like smoke, hot doors, someone screaming, or if through the window you can see someone lying inside, then you can break down the door or smash a window,” he explained.
Systemic gaps
Our interviewee stressed that he is not able to fully assess the actions of the officers involved in the operation because he did not take part in it. He underlined that procedures in such cases “have long been established”. “The decision to enter an apartment is always very difficult, and the person making it takes enormous responsibility,” he explained.
“I am the last person who will criticise the officers, but the system does not work and that is the problem. If we have known for some time that such things are happening, then everyone operating on the front line should have been warned. Above all, police officers should be informed, because they have the greatest means to verify such reports,” Gen. Bartkowiak concluded.