Ovuda se ide prema policijskoj upravi.

Ovuda means this way, through here, or along here. It expresses route/path, not just location.

Compare:

• ovdje = here (location)
• ovamo = to here (direction toward the speaker)
• ovuda = through here / this way (path taken)

So in this sentence, Ovuda se ide... is about which route you take.

Examples:

• Ovdje je trgovina. = The shop is here.
• Dođi ovamo. = Come here.
• Ovuda se ide do centra. = This is the way to the center.

Here se is used to make the sentence impersonal. Croatian often uses this structure when English would say something like:

• one goes
• you go
• people go
• this is the way

So Ovuda se ide literally feels like One goes this way or People go this way.

It does not mean that someone is doing the action to themselves. This is not reflexive in meaning here. It is an impersonal se-construction.

This is very common in instructions and directions:

• Ovdje se ne puši. = No smoking / One does not smoke here.
• Ulazi se na stražnja vrata. = One enters through the back door.
• Ovuda se ide prema policijskoj upravi. = This way goes toward the police administration / This is the way toward the police headquarters.

Because the impersonal se construction normally uses 3rd person singular.

So even though the meaning is general, like people go or you go, the verb stays singular:

• se ide
• se radi
• se govori

Examples:

• U Hrvatskoj se govori hrvatski. = Croatian is spoken in Croatia.
• Nedjeljom se ne radi. = People do not work on Sundays.
• Ovuda se ide do stanice. = This is the way to the station.

So ide is singular because the construction is grammatical, not because only one person is going.

Prema takes the dative case.

That is why policijska uprava changes to policijskoj upravi.

Breakdown:

• base form: policijska uprava
• after prema: prema policijskoj upravi

Why those endings?

• policijska → policijskoj because the adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case
• uprava → upravi because uprava is a feminine singular noun in the dative

So:

• nominative: policijska uprava
• dative: policijskoj upravi

Not exactly. Policijska uprava is more like police administration, police directorate, or police headquarters/department, depending on context.

It is a more official institutional term than just policija.

So:

• policija = the police
• policijska uprava = a police administrative body / police headquarters / police directorate

In directions, it usually refers to a specific official police building or office.

Yes, but the meaning changes a little.

• prema policijskoj upravi = toward the police administration / in the direction of
• do policijske uprave = to the police administration / as far as the police administration

So prema emphasizes direction, while do more strongly suggests the destination/end point.

Compare:

• Ovuda se ide prema policijskoj upravi. = This way leads toward the police headquarters.
• Ovuda se ide do policijske uprave. = This is the way to the police headquarters.

Both are possible, but prema can sound slightly less absolute, more like in that direction.

Yes, it is natural. It sounds like a standard directional statement.

Croatian often uses impersonal expressions when giving directions:

• Ovuda se ide...
• Tamo se skreće lijevo.
• Ravno se ide do semafora.

In English, we might say:

• You go this way...
• This is the way to...
• Go this way toward...

Croatian often avoids directly addressing you in these kinds of instructions and uses a more general impersonal form instead.

In neutral Croatian word order, se usually comes very early in the clause, often in the second position area.

So:

• Ovuda se ide = natural
• Ovuda ide se = unnatural in normal usage

Croatian clitics such as se, je, ga, mu, etc. tend to appear near the beginning of the sentence, after the first stressed element or in the clitic cluster position.

That is why se comes before ide here.

Yes, depending on what you want to mean.

• ovuda = through here / this way here
• tuda = through there / that way
• onuda = through over there / that way over there

Examples:

• Ovuda se ide do trga. = This way goes to the square.
• Tuda se ne ide. = You don’t go that way.
• Onuda je brže. = It’s faster that way over there.

So ovuda is chosen when the speaker is indicating the route as this way, here.

For learners, the most useful way to think of ovuda is as an adverb of path/route.

You do not usually analyze it like a regular noun in a case pattern such as nominative, accusative, etc. It behaves as a fixed directional/path word, similar to:

• ovdje
• ovamo
• ondje
• tuda

So in practice, learn it as a vocabulary item meaning this way / through here.

The verb ići primarily means to go, but in directions it can often be understood broadly as go, walk, head, or proceed, depending on context.

So Ovuda se ide prema policijskoj upravi could naturally be interpreted as:

• You go this way toward the police headquarters
• People go this way toward the police headquarters
• This is the way toward the police headquarters

It does not specifically mean only walking. The exact nuance depends on the situation.

Croatian has no articles like English a/an/the.

Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from context.

So policijskoj upravi can mean:

• to a police administration
• to the police administration

In real context, especially in directions, it will usually be understood as the relevant police headquarters/office.

You could say:

• Idi ovuda prema policijskoj upravi. = Go this way toward the police headquarters.
  singular informal
• Idite ovuda prema policijskoj upravi. = Go this way toward the police headquarters.
  plural or polite

These are direct commands.

The original sentence, Ovuda se ide prema policijskoj upravi, is less direct and more neutral. It sounds like a general statement about the route, which is very common in directions.