In with the blue, out with the red

Poland's police forces will soon be purged of ex-communist officials, while more officers will be patrolling the streets, according to Poland's new Interior Minister, Ludwik Dorn. Dorn said that he would be appointing new national and regional police chiefs very soon, as well as reorganizing the entire force of 100,000.

"The deep changes are aimed at boosting the police presence on the street by 50 percent ... and at saying goodbye to those who were active in communist-era services," Dorn recently told reporters.

Dorn's party, Law and Justice (PiS), which won September's parliamentary elections, campaigned on promises to stamp out corruption in Poland's police and security services. Dorn said that around 10 percent of senior police officers were on active duty in the communist-party apparatus before the 1989 transition to democracy.

"Most of these officers are nearing retirement age anyway and some have already asked to leave early," Dorn said.

Dorn has already appointed former commando chief Roman Polko as the government's new head anti-terror coordinator, saying that Poland's forces are currently too disorganized to handle a major terrorist attack.

Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz's new government will also be looking to reorganize Poland's scandal-tainted secret services. He has said he will look for broad cross-party support for his planned changes, which include dissolving the military intelligence unit. (Reuters)