In a letter to the force issued on Monday, Gen. Marek Boroń said he would seek a "firm response" wherever officers’ rights had been violated.
The statement comes against the backdrop of ongoing protests by right-wing groups outside the Constitutional Tribunal, linked to a political dispute over the court.
At one of them, a policewoman was attacked and injured; a man was detained and found to be carrying a knife.
Afterwards, some social media users suggested she had provoked the incident.
Kazimierz Smoliński, an MP from the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, wrote on X that he would "remember the face" of every officer who "raised a hand against a participant in a lawful protest," and that they would be held to account in a year’s time.
Boroń said he was particularly troubled by the abuse and public humiliation the policewoman had been subjected to.
"As police chief, I stand behind each of you," he wrote in the letter.
He said he had told police lawyers to support officers who wish to defend their rights, including through private prosecutions, and that each case would be assessed individually.
The aim, Boroń said, was not to limit free speech or shield the force from outside scrutiny, but to draw "a clear line between criticism and an unlawful attack" on a public official.
Officers would "continue to act when the law requires, whatever the pressure," he said, adding that "every intervention must have a legal basis and be proportionate."
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP