RIGA — Latvia’s interior ministry has announced it would crack down on police personnel who don’t possess adequate knowledge of the national language.

Though it was unclear what kind of penalties might result, the State Police Chief Valdis Voins has ordered that all subordinate structures compile lists of employees who do not possess the required knowledge of Latvian — including those interior ministry staff who do not use the national language “in the obligatory amount” while carrying out their duties, according to a press release.

Either an opinion from the State Language Inspectorate or civil complaints can be used as a basis to include a policeman in the list, the ministry said. Interior minister Linda Mūrniece welcomed the measures, saying, “I hope that after these measures are carried out I will no longer have to hear people’s complaints that police officials did not speak with them in the national language.”

The measures, announced Wednesday, came two days after Mūrniece highlighted the problem, citing an increasing number of reports from the Latgale region in Riga that several police officers have falsified language certificates.

“A police officer who does not possess the national language cannot work on the force,” said Mūrniece. “He cannot provide full support to people. He cannot listen to evidence, record them, fill out the document in a qualitative manner, and conduct investigations.”

Voins said that police who are found not to possess the required knowledge of Latvian will be given a chance to obtain sufficient knowledge. According to one report in Latvian media, this is approximately five months.