In the 77-page legislative intent document, both the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior attempt to address a wide range of issues they consider problematic or outdated in law enforcement.

More surveillance

One significant change proposed by the ministries is to facilitate and increase electronic surveillance. Among other things, they aim to specify in the law how and under what conditions unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) can be used for surveillance, such as during crowded events.

Currently, the law requires the police to inform people that they are being filmed. However, in the future, law enforcement units could have the right to do so without notifying people. The ministries estimate that using drones in this manner could save officials' working time.

Additionally, the ministries want to give law enforcement officers the ability to record their activities and interactions with people using body cameras, capturing both video and audio as needed. These recordings could be used instead of written reports. To ensure the officer's privacy, the device would not record continuously but only when the officer wishes.

The authors of the draft estimate that recording all interactions would make it easier to penalize individuals committing offenses during their interactions with the police. Furthermore, the draft authors suggest that it would discipline people when they interact with law enforcement.

It would not be necessary to inform all bystanders of the recording, but the law enforcement officers should inform the primary person they are interacting with at the earliest opportunity.

Initially, 670 patrol officers could be equipped with cameras, but the ministries foresee that the drafting process will determine which other law enforcement officers might also need cameras.

The primary negative impact of wider body camera usage identified by the authors of the draft is the potential invasion of privacy and the concern that people may be less willing to interact with the police if all their actions are recorded. However, the authors consider this impact to be negligible.

Determining level of intoxication

Alongside body cameras, the ministries aim to simplify the process of determining intoxication levels in individuals.

Currently, only a doctor can assess a person's alcohol or drug intoxication upon request. However, the ministries propose expanding the range of potential experts. In the future, nurses, midwives and other healthcare-trained workers could also assess intoxication levels. There are about 4,700 doctors in Estonia, compared to a total of 26,300 healthcare workers.

Additionally, the ministries suggest that in the future, a person's health condition should no longer need to be assessed at a healthcare facility. Instead, a healthcare worker could be called to the scene, police station or detoxification facility.

The draft intent explains that the current process of determining intoxication often takes a lot of time, during which the intoxication level may diminish. Moreover, approximately 2,000 intoxication assessments annually take up around 4,000 police working hours, which could be saved, freeing up the equivalent of two police officers' annual work time.

In some cases, the draft authors suggest that expert intoxication assessments could be eliminated entirely, allowing police officers to assess intoxication themselves. Evidence could include the results of an indicator device and the recordings from the officer's body camera. This evidence could be supplemented with a urine sample taken by the officer.

To mitigate the risk of disputes arising from the new procedure, the draft authors propose offering individuals the option of a more thorough health assessment process to determine intoxication.

Collection of expenses

In the future, such demands may no longer be free of charge. The ministries propose that it should be possible to significantly increase the costs recovered from individuals. For example, if a person demands that their intoxication be determined at a medical facility, the police could follow up with a damage claim. The same could apply to taking someone to a detoxification facility or if the police decide to forcibly stop a person's vehicle.

Furthermore, the ministries suggest considering whether a damage claim could follow in cases such as forcibly bringing individuals in, using special identification measures, when non-cooperative individuals need to be examined at a medical facility and for false emergency calls.

Online punishment

In addition to the physical world, the ministries of justice and the interior aim to grant the police more authority to handle incidents occurring online. Specifically, the ministries want to give law enforcement agencies the power to deal more effectively with individuals who insult, threaten or intimidate others in cyberspace, or who appear naked or consume alcohol in texts, images or videos.

The ministries propose defining publicly accessible online environments as public places. This definition would apply the behavioral requirements outlined in the Law Enforcement Act for public places to these environments, allowing the police to more easily penalize individuals who, in the police's assessment, behave improperly online.

The authors of the draft note that while it is currently possible for the police to talk to individuals who behave poorly in cyberspace or for individuals to take their offenders to court, the ministries consider these measures to be ineffective.

Simpler weapons use

The ministries also assess in the draft intent that the threshold for law enforcement to use electric shock weapons, or tasers, should be lowered. Under current law, tasers can be used to counteract heightened danger, but in the future, they could be used when there is an immediate threat to a person's health.

In practical terms, the ministries propose changing the Law Enforcement Act to allow more frequent use of tasers during arrests, as an arrest may not always constitute significant or heightened danger. In the future, tasers could be used without heightened danger against individuals who need to be detained, are attempting to flee or are resisting arrest.

Since the Estonian police began using tasers in 2018, they have been used approximately ten times a year, totaling 50 uses from 2018 to 2022. The ministries note that so far, there have been no life-threatening injuries or deaths solely due to taser use.

According to the PPA, there were 180 attacks on police officers from 2018 to 2022, resulting in 61 officer injuries. However, the threshold for using tasers was too high to effectively counter these attacks. In 17 cases, officers unsuccessfully used pepper spray or batons to fend off attacks.

The ministries believe that future risks of overly casual taser use can be mitigated by logging the use and recording the entire activity with audio and video.

In addition to tasers, the ministries want to establish regulations allowing law enforcement more freedom to use rubber bullets. Currently, rubber bullets are subject to the same conditions as metal bullets, and the ministries aim to lower this threshold.

According to the draft intent, police officers could use rubber bullets in the future both to counteract danger and to stop threatening public order violations. For instance, during a demonstration, officers could shoot rubber bullets at individuals throwing stones at them, those too dangerous to approach with a baton or tear gas, or those beyond the seven-meter range of a taser.

The ministries also suggest lowering the threshold for using water cannons. Currently, their use is equated with situations where firearms could be used, but the draft authors believe water cannons should be available in the early stages of events to prevent escalation.

Additionally, the ministries want to grant law enforcement broad authority to bring down unmanned aerial vehicles.

Alongside lowering the thresholds for using special police equipment, the ministries of justice and the interior also aim to facilitate the involvement of the Estonian Defense Forces, the Defense League and other individuals in maintaining public order.

Public events

The ministries also aim to more extensively regulate and oversee the organization of public events. They propose creating detailed regulations in the Law Enforcement Act specifying who can organize public events and where and specify cases where local governments can or must refuse permission for such events.

As a result of this regulation, law enforcement agencies would receive better information about planned events with significant potential risks, enabling them to organize their work more effectively.

In addition to better information, law enforcement units would gain the authority to preemptively prohibit public meetings that, in the police's assessment, violate the Law Enforcement Act. This includes events deemed to be against the Estonian state; inciting hatred, violence or discrimination; or aimed at promoting criminal activity or incitement.

The ministries also suggest considering the prohibition of public meetings related to the anniversaries of the aggressor state, Russia, or events where symbols associated with acts of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes are planned to be displayed.

Additionally, the ministries propose banning meetings within 50 meters of national defense objects. The list of these objects is classified at a restricted level of state secrecy.

Beyond deciding on event permissions, the ministries believe law enforcement should have the authority to more easily remove individuals from public meetings. Currently, a person can be removed if they pose an immediate heightened danger. In the future, a person could also be removed if they pose a risk of even minor health damage.

The draft intent to amend the Law Enforcement Act does not mean that the proposals from the ministries of justice and the interior will automatically become law. However, based on these proposals, the ministries may start drafting bills that move in the direction outlined in the draft intent.

Currently, the proposals have been submitted to a broader range of institutions for analysis and feedback.

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