Policija govori o zločinu.

Because policija is grammatically singular in Croatian.

Even though policija means the police, which often feels plural in English, in Croatian it behaves like a singular noun. So the verb also stays singular:

• Policija govori = The police are talking / The police speak
• not Policija govore

This is similar to how some collective nouns work in other languages.

Zločinu is in the locative case.

The preposition o usually means about and requires the locative. So:

• zločin = crime
• o zločinu = about the crime

That is why the ending changes from -in to -inu.

In sentences like this, yes, o commonly means about.

So:

• govoriti o nečemu = to talk about something

Examples:

• Govorim o filmu. = I’m talking about the film.
• Pričamo o poslu. = We’re talking about work.

So in this sentence, o zločinu means about the crime.

Here govori means speaks or is talking.

The verb govoriti can mean:

• to speak
• to talk
• sometimes to say, depending on context

In Policija govori o zločinu, the most natural English translation is:

• The police are talking about the crime or
• The police speak about the crime

In everyday English, are talking about is usually the most natural translation.

Croatian has no articles like a/an/the.

So policija can mean:

• police
• the police

And zločinu can mean:

• a crime
• the crime

You understand which one is meant from the context. In this sentence, English usually translates it as the police and the crime.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order because cases show grammatical relationships.

The neutral order here is:

• Policija govori o zločinu.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• O zločinu govori policija.
• Govori policija o zločinu.

These can sound more marked or stylistically different. For learners, the basic neutral order is best to use first.

A rough pronunciation is:

• zlo-chi-noo

More carefully:

• zl as in a quick z
  • l
• č sounds like ch in church
• u sounds like oo in food

So:

• zločinu ≈ zlo-chi-noo

Also:

• ć and č are different letters in Croatian, but here the word has č.

Yes, policija is grammatically feminine singular.

That matters for agreement in adjectives and some past-tense forms. For example:

• Hrvatska policija = Croatian police
• Policija je govorila o zločinu. = The police were talking about the crime.

Here govorila is feminine singular, matching policija.

The dictionary forms are:

• policija = police
• govoriti = to speak, to talk
• zločin = crime

In the sentence:

• govori is the 3rd person singular present
• zločinu is the locative singular

So this sentence is a good example of how Croatian changes word forms depending on grammar.

Yes, that is possible, but the tone is a little different.

• govoriti o... = to speak/talk about
• pričati o... = to talk about, often a bit more conversational or storytelling in tone

So:

• Policija govori o zločinu sounds neutral and standard.
• Policija priča o zločinu is understandable, but depending on context it may sound slightly less formal.

In news or official contexts, govori often sounds more natural.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Policija govori o zločinu can mean:

• The police are talking about the crime (right now / in this situation)
• The police talk about the crime (more general, less common in English)

Croatian present tense often covers both the simple present and present continuous ideas that English separates. Context tells you which meaning is intended.