The interior minister in Poland’s new government has announced that police officers will no longer cover their faces and has declared that the force “will not serve as a security agency” anymore for Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

“Yesterday, the new police chief…introduced an order ending face veiling during interventions,” Marcin Kierwiński told broadcaster TVN, saying that this was part of “the process of restoring trust in the Polish police”.

Under the PiS government, which ruled Poland from 2015 until earlier this month, the police recorded the largest decline in public trust among major institutions, according to regular polling by IBRiS. The police were regularly accused of using excessive force and of being under political influence.

Critics in particular noted a constant police presence around the home of Kaczyński in Warsaw, even when the PiS chairman held no formal state position. During some anti-government protests, hundreds of officers were deployed to the area.