The aggressiveness of unruly visitors to the Krkonoše Mountains is increasing, KRNAP guards serve with the police

Update: 21.05.2023 09:50

Vrchlabí (Trutnovsk Region) – Joint patrols of the Police of the Czech Republic and the guards of the Krkonoše National Park (KRNAP) dealt with approximately 120 offenses in the past winter season, most often offenses in traffic and associated with unauthorized entry into a quiet area. Fines in the amount of 42,000 crowns were imposed for them. This is a comparable number of cases and levied fines as in previous years, but the aggressiveness and arrogance of offenders is growing, KRNAP Administration spokesman Radek Drahný told ČTK. In the past winter season, guards and police officers served four dozen joint guard duties.

“We are not concerned with fines, the essence of the guard service is to be preventively in places where something illegal may happen, and to prevent it. Guard services can resolve or prevent dozens of possible offenses with their presence every day,” said Drahný. He emphasized that the fines are not the income of the national park, but partly go to the state budget, partly to the municipality on whose territory the offense was committed.

The KRNAP administration in the territory of the national park mostly provides the guard service itself, cooperation with the police in joint patrols is a reaction to the increasing cases of gross violations of the KRNAP rules. “As soon as there’s a nice sunny weekend after the snow, we know it’s going to be a problem weekend, and they’re out in the field. Patrols with the police are desirable because of the increasing aggression,” said Drahný.

One of the recent cases of an attack on a KRNAP guard, which was also dealt with by the police, happened in January 2021 in the vicinity of Strážné in Trutnovsk. The KRNAP guard came into conflict with illegally driving snowmobiles, one of the drivers tried to punch him.

“The aggressiveness and arrogance of people who violate the KRNAP visitor regulations is on the rise. That is why our guards generally serve in doubles, all violations are handled under camera footage. We had to adapt the performance of our guard service to this,” said Drahný. According to him, KRNAP guards did not face any physical attack during the performance of duty during the past winter season.

According to him, three types of offenses are the most common, namely violation of the ban on entering open terrain in a quiet area, violation of the ban on entering KRNAP and leaving garbage in KRNAP. “The number of offenses is directly proportional to the high number of visitors to KRNAP. Offenses, especially those involving the violation of the ban on entering open terrain in a quiet area, are more frequent on the weekend and in good weather,” said Drahný.

The security service of the KRNAP Administration is not limited to the winter season, it is also busy in the summer months. It is related to the enormous number of visitors to the Krkonoše Mountains. Attendance was a record in 2022. The Krkonoše Mountains recorded more than 12.1 million visits last year, which is 250,000 more than in the record year 2018. The recently published data are for the entire Krkonoše region, including the territory of KRNAP.