Obrada je u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi.

Because it comes after the preposition u, which here means in / at and requires the locative case when talking about location.

• dictionary form: uprava
• locative singular: upravi

So:

• uprava = administration / directorate
• u upravi = in the administration / at the directorate

In this sentence, u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi means something like at the competent police administration/directorate.

Because adjectives in Serbian must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

The noun is upravi, which is:

• feminine
• singular
• locative

So both adjectives must also be feminine singular locative:

• nadležna → nadležnoj
• policijska → policijskoj
• uprava → upravi

This is full agreement:

• u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi

Nadležan usually means competent, responsible, or having jurisdiction/authority.

In official or legal language, it often means:

• the authority that is responsible for the matter
• the office that has jurisdiction

So nadležna policijska uprava is not just any police administration, but the one that is officially responsible for this case or procedure.

Policijska uprava is an official institutional term. Depending on context, it can be translated as:

• police administration
• police directorate
• police department

A learner should know that this is bureaucratic/government language, not casual everyday speech.

So the phrase sounds official, like something from a document, notice, or government system.

Because je is the present tense of biti (to be) and Serbian often places it in the second position of the clause.

Here:

• Obrada = first element
• je = second-position clitic

So:

• Obrada je u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi.

This is very normal Serbian word order.

Yes, Serbian word order is flexible, but not all versions sound equally natural.

The given sentence:

• Obrada je u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi.

is neutral and natural in official style.

Other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• U nadležnoj policijskoj upravi je obrada.

This could sound marked or contrastive, as if emphasizing where the processing is.

So the original version is probably the safest default.

Obrada is a noun, not a verb.

It comes from the verb obraditi / obrađivati and means things like:

• processing
• handling
• treatment
• work-up

In administrative language, it often refers to a case, application, or data being processed.

Grammatically, in this sentence it is the subject:

• Obrada = the processing
• je = is
• u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi = in/at the competent police administration

Yes. Obrada is a feminine singular noun.

You can tell from:

• the typical dictionary ending -a
• agreement patterns in other contexts

Here, however, no adjective directly modifies obrada, so you do not see agreement with it inside the sentence. But if you added an adjective, it would be feminine:

• dalja obrada
• administrativna obrada

The preposition u often means:

• in
• at
• sometimes into (with a different case)

Here it expresses location, so it takes the locative:

• u upravi = in / at the administration

In official Serbian, u + institution/location is very common:

• u školi
• u sudu
• u opštini
• u policijskoj upravi

So the phrase means that the matter is located or being handled within that office.

Not especially. It sounds official, administrative, or bureaucratic.

A Serbian speaker would expect this kind of wording in:

• police paperwork
• government correspondence
• status updates
• legal/administrative notices

In everyday conversation, people might say something less formal, depending on context.

Because Serbian has no articles.

English distinguishes:

• a police department
• the police department

Serbian does not do this with articles. The listener understands definiteness from:

• context
• word order
• the situation
• sometimes demonstratives if needed

So policijska uprava can mean a police department or the police department, depending on context.

Yes, very often.

Although u literally suggests location, official Serbian often uses this kind of structure to mean that a matter is:

• being handled there
• assigned there
• under that office’s responsibility

So the sentence may be understood functionally, not just physically. In practice, it can imply:

• the processing is taking place there
• the matter is currently with that authority
• that police administration has the case

Good question: the form is the same for feminine singular adjectives and nouns in dative and locative in many cases.

Here it is locative, because it follows u meaning in/at.

So:

• u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi = locative

If it were dative, the context would be different, usually involving direction toward an indirect object rather than location.

It could appear in some contexts, but it is not the same style.

• u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi sounds more institutional and official
• kod often means with / at someone’s place / in someone’s possession

So kod nadležne policijske uprave might emphasize that the matter is with that authority, but the original sentence sounds more like standard bureaucratic phrasing.

For an official notice, u nadležnoj policijskoj upravi is very natural.