STA, 11 December 2018 - After being appointed acting police commissioner in October, Tatjana Bobnar was named for a full five-year term to the post by the government on Tuesday as the first woman to head the Slovenian police force.
Bobnar, who had previously served as deputy police commissioner since 2009, will assume her full term on Wednesday at a ceremony at the Police Academy in Tacen near Ljubljana.
Born in 1969, Bobnar joined the police force in 1993 as a crime investigator and rose through the ranks to first head the juvenile crime squad before being named the head of the operational support department and then assistant to the head of the Ljubljana Police Department.
She holds a master's degree in criminal law from the Ljubljana Faculty of Law, teaches at the Police College, and is a member of the programming councils of the Police Academy and the Faculty of Security Studies.
Bobnar was named acting police commissioner on 4 October to replace Simon Velički. Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar did not give reasons for Velički's replacement, but unofficial information indicated the pair were personally incompatible.
For the first time ever Slovenia has women in command of the police force and the army. Major General Alenka Ermenc was appointed the chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces last month.
In a recent interview with the STA Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said he was proud that the two forces were being headed by women. "Both are extremely capable and very committed to their work, which is what counts."
Related: Slovenian Army - Alenka Ermenc Becomes First Female Major General
