Krapsis Fined €11,700 in Latvian Police Video Radar Procurement Case

The Riga City Court has found Normunds Krapsis, head of the State Police's Main Public Order Police Department in Latvia, and police official Andris Locs guilty of abuse of official position in a case over the procurement of video radars. Krapsis was fined €11,700 and Locs €4,680. The ruling can be appealed, and Krapsis has said he will do so.

The court's decision

Prosecutors charged Krapsis with disclosing non-public information that is not a state secret and with abusing his official position. Locs was charged with aiding the abuse of office. The court imposed somewhat smaller penalties than the prosecutor had requested.

The allegations

According to the prosecution, one official, with the other's support, unlawfully ensured that the State Police signed a contract in 2018 to buy video radars from a company, with terms favourable to that firm. The technical specification submitted to police leadership already matched one company's radars in full, so bidders could not compete freely. One official was also accused of disclosing non-public information to a bidder before the tender was announced.

Krapsis' position

Krapsis does not admit guilt and believes the first-instance court did not heed his arguments. He will appeal to the Riga Regional Court. He said the handheld laser radars purchased, "Tru Cam II", were at the time the only ones legally usable in Latvia, as only they had received type approval.

The prosecutor's view

Prosecutor Agnese Indriksone assesses the ruling positively and called it the right signal that such violations will bring accountability under the law. In a separate case, Krapsis and other police officials face charges over alleged irregularities in the procurement of police uniforms. Krapsis retired on a long-service pension in the summer of 2021.