President Andrzej Duda attended the main ceremony to mark the occasion at the Castle Square in Warsaw on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Also in attendance was Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, among other senior officials.
The president said: “Thanks to you, officers, thanks to your service and work, thanks to your dedication, your professionalism, your readiness to serve, and also your readiness to face risk, we are able to enjoy living in a country that is safe and peaceful.”
Duda added that compared with other European countries, Poland was secure.
The president told the law enforcement officers gathered at Warsaw’s Castle Square: “I would like you to know, officers, Polish policemen and policewomen, that I will always stand with Polish police, with honest, professional policemen and policewomen, who are performing their service in a dependable way, even if they must take firm action.”
“It’s important that police officers intervene in such a way that no one gets harmed in the process, including officers themselves, members of the public who are subject to the intervention and third parties," he added.
During Monday’s ceremony, the president also decorated police officers for their service to the nation, while the latest graduates of Poland’s Police Academy in the northeastern town of Szczytno were promoted to officer rank, the presidential office said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked Polish police officers for their service in a Facebook post.
He noted that Poland’s law enforcement officers had had to face such challenges as illegal migration, the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of millions of refugees from war-torn Ukrainie.
“This makes my admiration and gratitude to the Polish police even greater,” the prime minister said.
Morawiecki told police officers: “You are our shield that guards the security of Polish families.”
Poland has observed Police Day since 1995; the occasion falls on July 24, the date on which the Polish parliament established the country’s State Police Force in 1919, the PAP news agency reported.
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Source: PAP, prezydent.pl, polskieradio24.pl