Selected Laws

Posts Tagged ‘Police’

History
See also: History of criminal justice
Ancient world
Ancient China
Law enforcement in Ancient China was carried out by “prefects”. The notion of a “prefect” in China has existed for thousands of years. The prefecture system developed in both the Chu and Jin kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn period. In Jin, dozens of prefects were spread across the state, each having limited authority and employment period.
In Ancient China, prefects were government officials appointed by local magistrates, who reported to higher authorities such as governors, who in turn were appointed by the head of state, usually the emperor of the dynasty. The prefects oversaw the civil administration of their “prefecture”, or jurisdiction.
Prefects usually reported to the local magistrate, just as modern police report to judges. Under each prefect were “subprefects” who helped collectively with law enforcement of the area. Some prefects were responsible for handling investigations, much like modern police detectives.
Eventually the concept of the “prefecture system” would spread to other cultures such as Korea and Japan. Law enforcement in Ancient China was also relatively progressive, allowing for female prefects. Some examples of ancient Chinese prefects include: Chong Fu – prefect of the Ying District in the East Han Dynasty and Qing Tsao – prefect of the modern Shang-tung Province. An example of a female prefect would by Lady Qu of Wuding (serving 1531-ca. 1557).
Recent portrayals of prefects in modern popular culture include Jet Li portrayal of the nameless prefect in the movie Hero.
Pre-medieval Europe
Ancient Greece
In Ancient Greece, publicly-owned slaves were used by magistrates as police. In Athens, a group of 300 Scythian slaves was used to guard public meetings to keep order and for crowd control, and also assisted with dealing with criminals, handling prisoners, and making arrests. Other duties associated with modern policing, such as investigating crimes, were left to the citizens themselves.
Roman Empire
In most of the Empire, the Army, rather than a dedicated police organization, provided security. Local watchmen were hired by cities to provide some extra security. In Rome itself, the Urban Cohorts were responsible for law and order and acted as a dedicated police force. Magistrates such as Procurator Fiscals and quaestors investigated crimes. There was no concept of public prosecution, so victims of crime or their families had to organize and manage the prosecution themselves.
Before its decline, the Roman Empire had a relatively effective law enforcement system. Under the reign of Augustus, when the capital had grown to almost one million inhabitants, 14 wards were created; the wards were protected by seven squads of 1,000 men called “Vigiles”, who guarded against fires and served as nightwatchmen. If necessary, the Vigiles might call the Praetorian Guard for assistance. Beginning in the 5th century, policing became a function of clan chiefs and heads of state.[citation needed]
European development
Medieval England
The Anglo-Saxon system of maintaining public order since the Norman conquest was a private system of tithings, led by a constable, which was based on a social obligation for the good conduct of the others; more common was that local lords and nobles were responsible to maintain order in their lands, and often appointed a constable, sometimes unpaid, to enforce the law.
Spain
Modern police in Europe has a precedent in the Hermandades, or “brotherhoods”, peacekeeping associations of armed individuals, a characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile. As medieval Spanish kings often could not offer adequate protection, protective municipal leagues began to emerge in the 12th century against bandits and other rural criminals, and against the lawless nobility or to support one or another claimant to the crown.
These organizations were intended to be temporary, but became a long-standing fixture of Spain. The first recorded case of the formation of an hermandad occurred when the towns and the peasantry of the north united to police the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, and protect the pilgrims against robber knights.
Throughout the Middle Ages such alliances were frequently formed by combinations of towns to protect the roads connecting them, and were occasionally extended to political purposes. Among the most powerful was the league of North Castilian and Basque ports, the Hermandad de las marismas: Toledo, Talavera, and Villarreal.
As one of their first acts after the war of succession, Ferdinand and Isabella established the centrally organized and efficient Holy Brotherhood (Santa Hermandad) as a national police force. They adapted an existing brotherhood to the purpose of a general police acting under officials appointed by themselves, and endowed with large powers of summary jurisdiction even in capital cases. The original brotherhoods continued to serve as modest local police units until their final suppression in 1835.
Holy Roman Empire
The Fehmic courts of Germany provided some policing in the absence of strong state institutions.
France
The Gendarmerie is the direct descendant of the Marshalcy of the ancien regime, more commonly known by its French title, the Marchausse. During the Middle Ages, there were two Grand Officers of the Kingdom of France with police responsibilities: The Marshal of France and the Constable of France. The military policing responsibilities of the Marshal of France were delegated to the Marshal’s provost, whose force was known as the Marshalcy because its authority ultimately derived from the Marshal. The marshalcy dates back to the Hundred Years War, and some historians trace it back to the early twelfth century. Another organisation, the Constabulary (French: Conntablie), was under the command of the Constable of France. The constabulary was regularised as a military body in 1337. Under King Francis I (who reigned 1515-1547), the Marchausse was merged with the Constabulary. The resulting force was also known as the Marchausse, or, formally, the Constabulary and Marshalcy of France (French: conntablie et marchausse de France). During the revolutionary period, marshalcy commanders generally placed themselves under the local constitutional authorities. As a result, the Marchausse, whose title was associated with the king, was not disbanded but simply renamed gendarmerie nationale in February 1791. Its personnel remained unchanged, and the role remained much as it was. However, from this point, the gendarmerie, unlike the marshalcy, was a fully military force.
The first police force in the modern sense was created by the government of King Louis XIV in 1667 to police the city of Paris, then the largest city in Europe. The royal edict, registered by the Parlement of Paris on March 15, 1667 created the office of lieutenant gnral de police (“lieutenant general of police”), who was to be the head of the new Paris police force, and defined the task of the police as “ensuring the peace and quiet of the public and of private individuals, purging the city of what may cause disturbances, procuring abundance, and having each and everyone live according to their station and their duties”.
This office was first held by Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, who had 44 commissaires de police (police commissioners) under his authority. In 1709, these commissioners were assisted by inspecteurs de police (police inspectors). The city of Paris was divided into 16 districts policed by the commissaires, each assigned to a particular district and assisted by a growing bureaucracy. The scheme of the Paris police force was extended to the rest of France by a royal edict of October 1699, resulting in the creation of lieutenants general of police in all large French cities and towns.
After the French Revolution, Napolon I reorganized the police in Paris and other cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants on February 17, 1800 as the Prefecture of Police. On March 12, 1829, a government decree created the first uniformed police in France, known as sergents de ville (“city sergeants”), which the Paris Prefecture of Police’s website claims were the first uniformed policemen in the world.
Britain and Ireland
Mounted officer of the British Metropolitan Police, the first modern police force
In England a system of sherriffs, reeves, and investigative “juries” had developed under the Anglo-Saxons to provide basic security and law enforcement.
After the Norman conquest, these institutions remained though their roles changed. Sherriffs in particular were responsible for keeping law and order, although they were responsible to the king and represented his interests.
In the United Kingdom, the development of police forces was much slower than in the rest of Europe. The British police function was historically performed by private watchmen (existing from 1500 on), thief-takers, and so on. The former were funded by private individuals and organisations and the latter by privately-funded rewards for catching criminals, who would then be compelled to return stolen property or pay restitution.
In 1737, George II began paying some London and Middlesex watchmen with tax moneys, beginning the shift to government control. In 1750, Henry Fielding began organizing a force of quasi-professional constables. The Macdaniel affair added further impetus for a publicly-salaried police force that did not depend on rewards. Nonetheless, In 1828, there were privately financed police units in no fewer than 45 parishes within a 10-mile radius of London.
The word “police” was borrowed from French into the English language in the 18th century, but for a long time it applied only to French and continental European police forces. The word, and the concept of police itself, was “disliked as a symbol of foreign oppression” (according to Britannica 1911).
Prior to the 19th century, the only official use of the word “police” recorded in the United Kingdom was the appointment of Commissioners of Police for Scotland in 1714 and the creation of the Marine Police in 1798 (set up to protect merchandise at the Port of London). Even today, many British police forces are suffixed with “Constabulary” rather than “Police”.
On June 30, 1800, the authorities of Glasgow, Scotland successfully petitioned the government to pass the Glasgow Police Act establishing the City of Glasgow Police. This was the first professional police service in the country and differed from previous law enforcement in that it was a preventive police force. Other Scottish towns soon followed suit and set up their own police forces through acts of parliament.
The first organized police force in Ireland came about through the Peace Preservation Act of 1814, but the Irish Constabulary Act of 1822 marked the true beginning of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Among its first duties was the forcible seizure of tithes during the “Tithe War” on behalf of the Anglican clergy from the mainly Catholic population as well as the Presbyterian minority.
The Act established a force in each barony with chief constables and inspectors general under the control of the civil administration at Dublin Castle. By 1841 this force numbered over 8,600 men.
The force had been rationalized and reorganized in an 1836 act and the first constabulary code of regulations was published in 1837. The discipline was tough and the pay poor. The police also faced unrest among the Irish rural poor, manifested in organizations like the Ribbonmen, which attacked landlords and their property.
In London, night watchmen were the first paid law enforcement body in the country, augmenting the force of unpaid constables. They guarded the streets since 1663. On September 29, 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act was passed by Parliament, allowing Sir Robert Peel, the then home secretary, to found the London Metropolitan Police. This promoted the preventive role of police as a deterrent to urban crime and disorder.
“Albertine at the Police Doctor’s Waiting Room”, 1885-87 painting by the Norwegian writer and painter Christian Krohg illustrating his then very controversial novel Albertine about the life of a prostitute
These police are often referred to as ‘Bobbies’ or ‘Peelers’ after Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel, who introduced the Police Act. They became a model for the police forces in most countries, such as the United States, and most of the British Empire. Bobbies can still be found in many parts of the Commonwealth of Nations. The primary role of the police in Britain was keeping the Queen’s Peace, which continues into the present day.
Development of Theory
In Western culture, the contemporary concept of a police paid by the government was developed by French legal scholars and practitioners in the 17th and early 18th centuries, notably with Nicolas Delamare’s Trait de la Police (“Treatise on the Police”), first published in 1705. The German Polizeiwissenschaft (Science of Police) was also an important theoretical formulation of police.
As conceptualized by the Polizeiwissenschaft, the police had an economic and social duty (“procuring abundance”). It was in charge of demographics concerns and of empowering the population, which, according to mercantilist theory, was to be the main strength of the state. Thus, its functions largely overreached simple law enforcement activities and included public health concerns, urban planning (which was important because of the miasma theory of disease; thus, cemeteries were moved out of town, etc.), and surveillance of prices.
Development of modern police was contemporary to the formation of the state, later defined by sociologist Max Weber as achieving a “monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force” and which was primarily exercised by the police and the military. Marxist theory situates the development of the modern state as part of the rise of capitalism, in which the police are one component of the bourgeoisie’s repressive apparatus for subjugating the working class.
British Empire
In British North America, policing was initially provided by local elected officials. For instance, the New York Sheriff’s Office was founded in 1626, and the Albany County Sheriff’s Department in the 1660s. In the colonial period, policing was provided by elected sheriffs and local militias. In Canada, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was founded in 1729, making it the first police force in present day Canada. It was followed in 1834 by the Toronto Police, and in 1838 by police forces in Montreal and Quebec City. A national force, the Dominion Police, was founded in 1868. Initially the Dominion Police provided security for parliament, but its responsibilities quickly grew. The famous Royal Northwest Mounted Police was founded in 1873. (See law enforcement in Canada.)
In Australia with the passing of the Police Regulation Act, 1862, the New South Wales Police Force was established and essentially tightly regulated and centralised all of the police forces operating throughout the Colony of New South Wales.
United States
The United States has a system of policing based on the modern English (British) Form.[citation needed]
In 1789 the US Marshals Service was established, followed by other federal services such as the US Parks Police (1791) and US Mint Police (1792). The first city police services were established in Philadelphia in 1751, Richmond, Virginia in 1807, Boston in 1838, and New York in 1845. The US Secret Service was founded in 1865 and was for some time the main investigative body for the federal government.
After the civil war, policing became more para-military in character, with the increased use of uniforms and military ranks. Prior to this, sheriff’s offices had been non-uniformed organizations without a para-military hierarchy.[citation needed]
In the American Old West, policing was often very poor quality.[citation needed] The Army often provided some policing alongside poorly resourced sheriffs and temporarily organised posses which are still in use in the Southern States today.[citation needed] Public organizations were supplemented by private contractors, notably the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was hired by individuals, businessmen, local governments and the federal government. At its height, the Pinkerton Agency’s numbers exceeded those of the standing army of the United States.[citation needed]
In recent years, in addition to federal, state, and local forces, some special districts have been formed to provide extra police protection in designated areas. These districts may be known as neighborhood improvement districts, crime prevention districts, or security districts.
Other countries
In Lebanon, modern police were established in 1861, with creation of the Gendarmerie.
In 1566, the first police investigator of Rio de Janeiro was recruited. By the seventeenth century, most “capitanias” already had local units with law enforcement functions. In July 9, 1775 a Cavalry Regiment was created in Minas Gerais for maintaining law and order. In 1808, the Portuguese royal family relocated to Brazil, due to the French invasion of Portugal. King Joo VI established the “Intendncia Geral de Polcia” (General Police Intendancy) for investigations. He also created a Royal Police Guard for Rio de Janeiro in 1809. In 1831, after independence, each province started organizing its local “military police”, with order maintenance tasks. The Federal Railroad Police was created in 1852.
Personnel and organization
In most Western police forces, perhaps the most significant division is between preventive (uniformed) police and detectives. Terminology varies from country to country.
Police functions include protecting life and property, enforcing criminal law, criminal investigations, regulating traffic, crowd control, and other public safety duties.
Uniformed police
Brazilian Federal Highway Police at work.
Preventive Police, also called Uniform Branch, Uniformed Police, Uniform Division, Administrative Police, Order Police, or Patrol, designates the police which patrol and respond to emergencies and other incidents, as opposed to detective services. As the name “uniformed” suggests, they wear uniforms and perform functions that require an immediate recognition of an officer’s legal authority, such as traffic control, stopping and detaining motorists, and more active crime response and prevention.
Preventive police almost always make up the bulk of a police service’s personnel. In Australia and Britain, patrol personnel are also known as “general duties” officers. Atypically, Brazil’s preventive police are known as Military Police.
Detectives
New South Wales Police Force officers search the vehicle of a suspected drug smuggler at a border crossing. Wentworth, New South Wales, Australia
Police detectives are responsible for investigations and detective work. Detectives may be called Investigations Police, Judiciary/Judicial Police, and Criminal Police. In the UK, they are often referred to by the name of their department, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Detectives typically make up roughly 15%-25% of a police service’s personnel.
Detectives, in contrast to uniform police, typically wear ‘business attire’ in bureaucratic and investigative functions where a uniformed presence would be either a distraction or intimidating, but a need to establish police authority still exists. “Plainclothes” officers dress in attire consistent with that worn by the general public for purposes of blending in.
In some cases, police are assigned to work “undercover”, where they conceal their police identity to investigate crimes, such as organized crime or narcotics crime, that are unsolvable by other means. In some cases this type of policing shares aspects with espionage.
Despite popular conceptions promoted by movies and television, many US police departments prefer not to maintain officers in non-patrol bureaus and divisions beyond a certain period of time, such as in the detective bureau, and instead maintain policies that limit service in such divisions to a specified period of time, after which officers must transfer out or return to patrol duties.[citation needed] This is done in part based upon the perception that the most important and essential police work is accomplished on patrol in which officers become acquainted with their beats, prevent crime by their presence, respond to crimes in progress, manage crises, and practice their skills.[citation needed]
Detectives, by contrast, usually investigate crimes after they have occurred and after patrol officers have responded first to a situation. Investigations often take weeks or months to complete, during which time detectives spend much of their time away from the streets, in interviews and courtrooms, for example. Rotating officers also promotes cross-training in a wider variety of skills, and serves to prevent “cliques” that can contribute to corruption or other unethical behavior.
Auxiliary
Police may also take on auxiliary administrative duties, such as issuing firearms licenses. The extent that police have these functions varies among countries, with police in France, Germany, and other continental European countries handling such tasks to a greater extent than British counterparts.
Specialized units
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Mumbai Police created specialized, quick response teams to deal with terror threats.
Specialized preventive and detective groups exist within many law enforcement organizations either for dealing with particular types of crime, such as traffic law enforcement and crash investigation, homicide, or fraud; or for situations requiring specialized skills, such as underwater search, aviation, explosive device disposal (“bomb squad”), and computer crime.
Most larger jurisdictions also employ specially-selected and trained quasi-military units armed with military-grade weapons for the purposes of dealing with particularly violent situations beyond the capability of a patrol officer response, including high-risk warrant service and barricaded suspects. In the United States these units go by a variety of names, but are commonly known as SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) teams.
In counter insurgency type campaigns, select and specially trained units of police armed and equipped as light infantry have been designated as police field forces who perform paramilitary type patrols and ambushes whilst retaining their police powers in areas that were highly dangerous.
Because their situational mandate typically focuses on removing innocent bystanders from dangerous people and dangerous situations, not violent resolution, they are often equipped with non-lethal tactical tools like chemical agents, “flashbang” and concussion grenades, and rubber bullets. The London Metropolitan police’s Specialist Firearms Command (CO19) is a group of armed police used in dangerous situations including hostage taking, armed robbery/assault and terrorism.
Military police
Military police may refer to:
a section of the military solely responsible for policing the armed forces (referred to as provosts)
a section of the military responsible for policing in both the armed forces and in the civilian population (most gendarmeries, such as the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the Portuguese Republican National Guard also known as GNR.
a section of the military solely responsible for policing the civilian population (such as the Romanian Gendarmerie)
the civilian preventative police of a Brazilian state (Policia Militar)
Religious police
Main article: Religious police
Some Islamic societies have religious police, who enforce the application of Islamic Sharia law. Their authority may include the power to arrest unrelated males and females caught socializing, anyone engaged in homosexual behavior or prostitution; to enforce Islamic dress-codes, and store closures during Islamic prayer time.
They enforce Muslim dietary laws, prohibit the consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages and pork, and seize banned consumer products and media regarded as un-Islamic, such as CDs/DVDs of various Western musical groups, television shows and film. In Saudi Arabia, religious police actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of non-Islamic religions within Saudi Arabia, where they are banned.
Varying jurisdictions
Police forces are usually organized and funded by some level of government. The level of government responsible for policing varies from place to place, and may be at the national, regional or local level. In some places there may be multiple police forces operating in the same area, with different ones having jurisdiction according to the type of crime or other circumstances.
For example in the UK policing is primarily the responsibility of a regional police force; however specialist units exist at the national level. In the US policing there is typically a state police force, but crimes are usually handled by local police forces which usually only cover a few municipalities. National agencies, such as the FBI, only have jurisdiction over federal crimes or those with an interstate component.
In addition to conventional urban or regional police forces, there are other police forces with specialized functions or jurisdiction. In the United States, the federal government has a number of police forces with their own specialized jurisdictions.
Some example are the Federal Protective Service, which patrols and protects government buildings; the postal police, which protect postal buildings, vehicles and items; the Park Police, which protect national parks, or Amtrak Police which patrol Amtrak stations and trains..
There are also some government agencies which perform police functions in addition to other duties. The U.S. Coast Guard carries out many police functions for boaters.
In major cities, there may be a separate police agency for public transit systems, such as the New York City Port Authority Police or the MTA police, or for major government functions, such as sanitation, or environmental functions.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland/Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Northern Ireland. The high walls are to protect against mortar bomb attacks.
Global policing
Policing plays an increasingly important role in United Nations peacekeeping and this looks set to grow in the years ahead, especially as the international community seeks to develop the rule of law and reform security institutions in States recovering from conflict.
Transnational policing
The term transnational policing entered into use in the mid-1990s as a description for forms of policing that transcended the boundaries of the sovereign nation state (Sheptycki, 1995). It is distinguished against the terms nternational policing and lobal policing. The former term would seem to indicate only those types of policing that are formally directed by institutions usually responsible for international affairs (for example the State Department in the US, the Foreign Office in the UK, etc.). The later term would seem to indicate only those forms of policing that are fully global in scope.
Transnational policing pertains to all those forms for policing that, in some sense, transgress national borders. This includes a variety of practices, but cross-border police cooperation, criminal intelligence exchange between police agencies working in different nation-states, and police development-aid to weak, failed or failing states are the three types that have received the most scholarly attention.
Historical studies reveal that policing agents have undertaken a variety of cross-border police missions for many years (Deflem, 2004).For example, in the 19th century a number of European policing agencies undertook cross-border surveillance because of concerns about anarchist agitators and other political radicals. A notable example of this was the occasional surveillance by Prussian police of Karl Marx during the years he remained resident in London. The interests of public police agencies in cross-border co-operation in the control of political radicalism and ordinary law crime were primarily initiated in Europe, which eventually led to the establishment of Interpol prior to the second world war. There are also many interesting examples of cross-border policing under private auspices and by municipal police forces that date back to the 19th century (Nadelmann, 1993). It has been established that modern policing has transgressed national boundaries from time to time almost from its inception. It is also generally agreed that in the post-Cold war era this type of practice became more significant and frequent (Sheptycki, 2000).
Not a lot of empirical work on the practices of transnational information and intelligence sharing has been undertaken. A notable exception is James Sheptycki’s study of police cooperation in the English Channel region (2002), which provides a systematic content analysis of information exchange files and a description of how these transnational information and intelligence exchanges are transformed into police case-work. The study showed that transnational police information sharing was routinized in the cross-Channel region from 1968 on the basis of agreements directly between the police agencies and without any formal agreement between the countries concerned. By 1992, with the signing of the Schengen Treaty which formalized aspects of police information exchange across the territory of the European Union, there were worries that much, if not all, of this intelligence sharing was opaque, raising questions about the efficacy of the accountability mechanisms governing police information sharing in Europe (Joubert and Bevers, 1996).
Studies of this kind outside of Europe are even rarer, so it is difficult to make generalizations, but one small-scale study that compared transnational police information and intelligence sharing practices at specific cross-border locations in North America and Europe confirmed that low visibility of police information and intelligence sharing was a common feature (Alain, 2001). Intelligence-led policing is now common practice in most advanced countries (Ratcliffe, 2007) and it is likely that police intelligence sharing and information exchange has a common morphology around the world (Ratcliffe, 2007).) James Sheptycki has analyzed the effects of the new information technologies on the organization of policing-intelligence and suggests that a number of rganizational pathologies have arisen that make the functioning of security-intelligence processes in transnational policing deeply problematic. He argues that transnational police information circuits help to ompose the panic scenes of the security-control society (p. 70). The paradoxical effect is that, the harder policing agencies work to produce security, the greater are feelings of insecurity.
Police development-aid to weak, failed or failing states is another form of transnational policing that has garnered attention. This form of transnational policing plays an increasingly important role in United Nations peacekeeping and this looks set to grow in the years ahead, especially as the international community seeks to develop the rule of law and reform security institutions in States recovering from conflict (Goldsmith and Sheptycki, 2007) With transnational police development-aid the imbalances of power between donors and recipients are stark and there are questions about the applicability and transportability of policing models between jurisdictions (Hills, 2009).
Perhaps the greatest question regarding the future development of transnational policing is: in whose interest? At a more practical level, the question translates into one about how to make transnational policing institutions democratically accountable (Sheptycki, 2004). For example, according to the Global Accountability Report for 2007 (Lloyd, et al. 2007) Interpol had the lowest scores in its category (IGOs), coming in tenth with a score of 22% on overall accountability capabilities (p.19). As this report points out, and the existing academic literature on transnational policing seems to confirm, this is a secretive area and one not open to civil society involvement.
Equipment
Weapons
In many jurisdictions, police officers carry firearms, primarily handguns, in the normal course of their duties. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand, with the exception of specialist units, officers do not carry firearms as a matter of course.
Police often have specialist units for handling armed offenders, and similar dangerous situations, and can (depending on local laws), in some extreme circumstances, call on the military (since Military Aid to the Civil Power is a role of many armed forces). Perhaps the most high-profile example of this was, in 1980 the Metropolitan Police handing control of the Iranian Embassy Siege to the Special Air Service.
They can also be equipped with non-lethal (more accurately known as “less than lethal” or “less-lethal”) weaponry, particularly for riot control. Non-lethal weapons include batons, riot control agents, rubber bullets and electroshock weapons. The use of firearms or deadly force is typically a last resort only to be used when necessary to save human life, although some jurisdictions (such as Brazil) allow its use against fleeing felons and escaped convicts. Police officers often carry handcuffs to restrain suspects.
Communications
Modern police forces make extensive use of radio communications equipment, carried both on the person and installed in vehicles, to co-ordinate their work, share information, and get help quickly. In recent years, vehicle-installed computers have enhanced the ability of police communications, enabling easier dispatching of calls, criminal background checks on persons of interest to be completed in a matter of seconds, and updating the officer’s daily activity log and other required reports on a real-time basis. Other common pieces of police equipment include flashlights/torches, whistles, and police notebooks and “ticketbooks” or citations.
Vehicles
Main article: Police transportation
A Ford Crown Victoria, one of the most recognizable models of American police car. This unit belongs to Houston METRO Police
Police vehicles are used for detaining, patrolling and transporting. The common Police patrol vehicle is an improved four door sedan (saloon in British English). Police vehicles are usually marked with appropriate logos and are equipped with sirens and lightbars to aid in making others aware of police presence.
Unmarked vehicles are used primarily for sting operations or apprehending criminals without alerting them to their presence. Some police forces use unmarked or minimally marked cars for traffic law enforcement, since drivers slow down at the sight of marked police vehicles and unmarked vehicles make it easier for officers to catch speeders and traffic violators. This practice is controversial, with for example, New York State banning this practice in 1996 on the grounds that it endangered motorists who might be pulled over by people impersonating police officers.
Motorcycles are also commonly used, particularly in locations that a car may not be able to access, to control potential public order situations involving meetings of motorcyclists and often in escort duties where the motorcycle policeman can quickly clear a path for the escorted vehicle. Bicycle patrols are used in some areas because they allow for more open interaction with the public. In addition, their quieter operation can facilitate approaching suspects unawares and can help in pursuing them attempting to escape on foot.
Police departments use an array of specialty vehicles such as helicopters, airplanes, watercraft, command post, vans, trucks, all terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and SWAT armored vehicles.
Strategies
The advent of the police car, two-way radio, and telephone in the early 20th century transformed policing into a reactive strategy that focused on responding to calls for service. With this transformation, police command and control became more centralized.
In the United States, August Vollmer introduced other reforms, including education requirements for police officers. O.W. Wilson, a student of Vollmer, helped reduce corruption and introduce professionalism in Wichita, Kansas, and later in the Chicago Police Department. Strategies employed by O.W. Wilson included rotating officers from community to community to reduce their vulnerability to corruption, establishing of a non-partisan police board to help govern the police force, a strict merit system for promotions within the department, and an aggressive recruiting drive with higher police salaries to attract professionally qualified officers. During the professionalism era of policing, law enforcement agencies concentrated on dealing with felonies and other serious crime, rather than broader focus on crime prevention.
Anti-riot armoured vehicle of the police of the Canton of Vaud in Lausanne, Switzerland
The Kansas City Preventive Patrol study in the 1970s found this approach to policing to be ineffective. Patrol officers in cars were disconnected from the community, and had insufficient contact and interaction with the community. In the 1980s and 1990s, many law enforcement agencies began to adopt community policing strategies, and others adopted problem-oriented policing.
Broken windows policing was another, related approach introduced in the 1980s by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, who suggested that police should pay greater attention to minor “quality of life” offenses and disorderly conduct. This method was first introduced and made popular by New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, in the early 1990s.
The concept behind this method is simple: broken windows, graffiti, and other physical destruction or degradation of property, greatly increases the chances of more criminal activities and destruction of property. When criminals see the abandoned vehicles, trash, and deplorable property, they assume that authorities do not care and do not take active approaches to correct problems in these areas. Therefore, correcting the small problems prevents more serious criminal activity.
Building upon these earlier models, intelligence-led policing has emerged as the dominant philosophy guiding police strategy. Intelligence-led policing and problem-oriented policing are complementary strategies, both which involve systematic use of information. Although it still lacks a universally accepted definition, the crux of intelligence-led policing is an emphasis on the collection and analysis of information to guide police operations, rather than the reverse.
Power restrictions
Main article: Police misconduct
ACT Police breath testing and command truck in Canberra Australia
In many nations, criminal procedure law has been developed to regulate officers’ discretion, so that they do not arbitrarily or unjustly exercise their powers of arrest, search and seizure, and use of force. In the United States, Miranda v. Arizona led to the widespread use of Miranda warnings or constitutional warnings.
Police in the United States are also prohibited from holding criminal suspects for more than a reasonable amount of time (usually 72 hours) before arraignment, using torture, abuse or physical threats to extract confessions, using excessive force to effect an arrest, and searching suspects’ bodies or their homes without a warrant obtained upon a showing of probable cause.
Using deception for confessions is permitted, but not coercion. There are exceptions or exigent circumstances such as an articulated need to disarm a suspect or searching a suspect who has already been arrested (Search Incident to an Arrest). The Posse Comitatus Act severely restricts the use of the military for police activity, giving added importance to police SWAT units.
British police officers are governed by similar rules, particularly those introduced under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), but generally have greater powers. They may, for example, legally search any suspect who has been arrested, or their vehicles, home or business premises, without a warrant, and may seize anything they find in a search as evidence.
All police officers in the United Kingdom, whatever their actual rank, are ‘constables’ in terms of their legal position. This means that a newly appointed constable has the same arrest powers as a Chief Constable or Commissioner. However, certain higher ranks have additional powers to authorize certain aspects of police operations, such as a power to authorize a search of a suspect’s house (section 18 PACE) by an officer of the rank of Inspector, or the power to authorize a suspect’s detention beyond 24 hours by a Superintendent.
Conduct and accountability
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)
April 21 2001: Police fire CS gas at protesters during the Quebec City Summit of the Americas. The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP later concluded the use of tear gas against demonstrators at the summit constituted “excessive and unjustified force”.[citation needed]
Crashed 2004 Cincinnati Police units
Police services commonly include units for investigating crimes committed by the police themselves. These units are typically called Inspectorate-General, or in the USA, “internal affairs”. In some countries separate organizations outside the police exist for such purposes, such as the British Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Likewise, some state and local jurisdictions, for example, Springfield, Illinois have similar outside review organizations. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is investigated by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, an external agency set up as a result of the Patten report into policing the province. In the Republic of Ireland the Garda Sochna is investigated by the Garda Sochna Ombudsman Commission, an independent force that replaced the Garda Complaints Board in May 2007.
The Special Investigations Unit of Ontario, Canada, is one of only a few civilian agencies around the world responsible for investigating circumstances involving police and civilians that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault.
In Hong Kong, any allegations of corruption within the police will be investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, an agency independent of the police force.
Use of force
Police forces also find themselves under criticism for their use of force, particularly deadly force. Specifically, tension increases when a police officer of one ethnic group harms or kills a suspect of another one.[citation needed] In the United States, such events occasionally spark protests and accusations of racism against police and allegations that police departments practice racial profiling.
In the United States since the 1960s, concern over such issues has increasingly weighed upon law enforcement agencies, courts and legislatures at every level of government. Incidents such as the 1965 Watts Riots, the videotaped 1991 beating by Los Angeles Police officers of Rodney King, and the riot following their acquittal have been suggested by some people to be evidence that U.S. police are dangerously lacking in appropriate controls.
The fact that this trend has occurred contemporaneously with the rise of the US civil rights movement, the “War on Drugs”, and a precipitous rise in violent crime from the 1960s to the 1990s has made questions surrounding the role, administration and scope of police authority increasingly complicated.[citation needed]
Police departments and the local governments that oversee them in some jurisdictions have attempted to mitigate some of these issues through community outreach programs and community policing to make the police more accessible to the concerns of local communities, by working to increase hiring diversity, by updating training of police in their responsibilities to the community and under the law, and by increased oversight within the department or by civilian commissions.
In cases in which such measures have been lacking or absent, civil law suits have been brought by the United States Department of Justice against local law enforcement agencies, authorized under the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This has compelled local departments to make organizational changes, enter into consent decree settlements to adopt such measures, and submit to oversight by the Justice Department.[citation needed]
Protection of individuals
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled numerous times since 1856 that law enforcement officers have no duty to protect any individual, despite the motto “protect and serve”. Their duty is to enforce the law in general. The first such case was in 1856 (South v. Maryland) and the most recent in 2005 (Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales).
In contrast, the police are entitled to protect private rights in some jurisdictions. To ensure that the police would not interfere into the regular competencies of the courts of law, some police acts require that the police may only interfere in such cases where protection from courts cannot be obtained in time, and where, without interference of the police, the realization of the private right would be impeded. This would, for example, allow police to establish a restaurant guest’s identity and forward it to the inn-keeper in a case where the guest cannot pay the bill at nighttime because his wallet had just been stolen from the restaurant table.
In addition, there are Federal Law Enforcement agencies in the United States whose mission includes providing protection for executives such as the President and accompanying family members, visiting foreign dignitaries, and other high-ranking individuals. Such agencies include The United States Secret Service and the United States Park Police.
International forces
Main article: Law enforcement by country
AFP -ACT Police vehicle and uniformed officers in Canberra, Australia
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law. The United States has a highly decentralized and fragmented system of law enforcement, with over 17,000 state and local law enforcement agencies.
Some countries, such as Chile, Israel, the Philippines, France, Austria, New Zealand and South Africa, use a centralized system of policing. Other countries have multiple police forces, but for the most part their jurisdictions do not overlap. In the United States however, several different law enforcement agencies may have authority in a particular jurisdiction at the same time, each with their own command.
Other countries where jurisdiction of multiple police agencies overlap, include Guardia Civil and the Polica Nacional in Spain , the Polizia di Stato and Carabinieri in Italy and the Police Nationale and National Gendarmerie in France.
Most countries are members of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), established to detect and fight trans-national crime and provide for international co-operation and co-ordination of other police activities, such as notifying relatives of the death of foreign nationals. Interpol does not conduct investigations nor arrests by itself, but only serves as a central point for information on crime, suspects and criminals. Political crimes are excluded from its competencies.
See also
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References
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^ Neocleous, Mark (2004). Fabricating Social Order: A Critical History of Police Power. Pluto Press. pp. 9394. ISBN 978-0-7453-1489-1. 
^ Siegel, Larry J. (2005). Criminolgy. Thomson Wadsworth. pp. 515,516.  Google Books Search
^ Whittaker, Jake. “UC Davis East Asian Studies”. University of California, Davis. UCdavis.edu
^ Hunter, Virginia J. (1994). Policing Athens: Social Control in the Attic Lawsuits, 420-320 B.C.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4008-0392-7. http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5349.html. 
^ “Bicentenaire : theme_expo4″. Prefecture-police-paris.interieur.gouv.fr. http://www.prefecture-police-paris.interieur.gouv.fr/documentation/bicentenaire/theme_expo4.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
^ a b Brodeur, Jean-Paul; Eds., Kevin R. E. McCormick and Livy A. Visano (1992). igh Policing and Low Policing: Remarks about the Policing of Political Activities, Understanding Policing. Canadian Scholars Press. pp. 284285, 295. ISBN 1-55130-005-2. 
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^ Michel Foucault, Security, Territory, Population, 1977-78 course (published 2004)
^ “The history of the Park Police”. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/uspp/. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “United States Mint Police”. United States Mint. http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/mint_police/. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “Department History”. Philadelphia Police Department. http://www.ppdonline.org/hq_history.php. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “History of the Richmond Police Department”. City of Richmond. http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/Police/HistoryPoliceDepartment.aspx. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “A Brief History of The B.P.D.”. City of Boston. http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/about/history.asp. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “New York City Police Department”. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City+Police+Department. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ “Secret Service History”. United States Secret Service. http://www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
^ Census.gov
^ “Historical overview”. Interior Security Forces (Lebanon). http://www.isf.gov.lb/English/LeftMenu/General+Info/History/. Retrieved 2007-06-26. 
^ a b c Bayley, David H. (1979). “Police Function, Structure, and Control in Western Europe and North America: Comparative and Historical Studies”. Crime & Justice 1: 109143. doi:10.1086/449060. NCJ 63672. 
^ “PMMG”. Policiamilitar.mg.gov.br. https://www.policiamilitar.mg.gov.br/_pmmg.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
^ p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin
^ formerly named SO19 “Metropolitan Police Service – Central Operations, Specialist Firearms unit (CO19)”. Metropolitan Police Service. http://www.met.police.uk/co19/. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
^ SAUDI ARABIA Catholic priest arrested and expelled from Riyadh – Asia News
^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi minister rebukes religious police
^ SAUDI ARABIA Catholic priest arrested and expelled from Riyadh – Asia News
^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi minister rebukes religious police
^ SAUDI ARABIA Catholic priest arrested and expelled from Riyadh – Asia News
^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi minister rebukes religious police
^ “Top UN police, rule of law officials meet in Italy to discuss global policing”. Un.org. 2008-02-07. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25538&Cr=UN&Cr1=police. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
^ Sheptycki, J. (1995) ‘Transnational Policing and the Makings of a Postmodern State’, British Journal of Criminology, 1995, Vol. 35 No. 4 Autumn, pp. 613-635
^ Deflem, M. (2004) Policing World Society; Historical Foundations of International Police Cooperation, Oxford: Calrendon
^ Nadelmann, E. A. (1993) Cops Across Borders; the Internationalization of US Law Enforcement, Pennsylvania State University Press
^ Sheptycki, J. (2000) Issues in Transnational Policing, London; Routledge
^ Sheptycki, J. (2002) In Search of Transnational Policing, Aldershot: Ashgate
^ Joubert, C. and Bevers, H. (1996) Schengen Investigated; The Hague: Kluwer Law International
^ Alain, M. (2001) he Trapeze Artists and the Ground Crew – Police Cooperation and Intelligence Exchange Mechanisms in Europe and North America: A Comparative Empirical Study, Policing and Society, 11/1: 1-28
^ Ratcliffe, J. (2007) Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence, Annadale, NSW: The Federation Press
^ Ratcliffe, J. (2007) Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence, Annadale, NSW: The Federation Press
^ Sheptycki, J. (2007) igh Policing in the Security Control Society Policing; a Journal of Policy and Practice, (Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 70-79 doi:10.1093/police/pam005 Oxfordjournals.org
^ Goldsmith, A. and Sheptycki, J. (2007) Crafting Transnational Policing; State-Building and Global Policing Reform, Oxford: Hart Law Publishers
^ Hills, A. (2009) he Possibility of Transnational Policing, Policing and Society, Vol. 19 No. 3 pp. 300-317
^ Sheptycki, J. (2004) he Accountability of Transnational Policing Institutions: The Strange Case of Interpol The Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 107-134
^ Lloyd, R. Oatham, J. and Hammer, M. (2007) 2007 Global Accountability Report: London: One World Trust
^ Dao, James (1996-04-18). “Pataki Curbs Unmarked Cars’ Use – The”. New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E1DB1E39F93BA25757C0A960958260&n=Top/Reference/Times Topics/Subjects/R/Roads and Traffic. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
^ Reiss Jr, Albert J. (1992). “Police Organization in the Twentieth Century”. Crime and Justice 51: 51. doi:10.1086/449193. NCJ 138800. 
^ “Finest of the Finest”. TIME Magazine. February 18, 1966. http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,899019,00.html. 
^ “Guide to the Orlando Winfield Wilson Papers, ca. 1928-1972″. Online Archive of California. http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf3v19n6s0&doc.view=entire_text. Retrieved 2006-10-20. 
^ “Chicago Chooses Criminologist to Head and Clean Up the Police”. United Press International/The New York Times. February 22, 1960. 
^ Kelling, George L., Mary A. Wycoff (December 2002). Evolving Strategy of Policing: Case Studies of Strategic Change. National Institute of Justice. NCJ 198029. 
^ Kelling, George L., Tony Pate, Duane Dieckman, Charles E. Brown (1974). “The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment – A Summary Report” (PDF). Police Foundation. http://www.policefoundation.org/pdf/kcppe.pdf. 
^ Kelling, George L., James Q. Wilson (March 1982). “Broken Windows” (subscription). Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198203/broken-windows. 
^ Tilley, Nick (2003). Problem-Oriented Policing, Intelligence-Led Policing and the National Intelligence Model. Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, University College London. http://www.jdi.ucl.ac.uk/publications/short_reports/problem_oriented_policing.php. 
^ “Intelligence-led policing: A Definition”. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/crimint/intelligence_e.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
^ Amanda Reavy. “Police review board gets started”. The State Journal-Register Online. http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/112655.asp. 
^ Walker, Samuel (2005). The New World of Police Accountability. Sage. pp. 5. 
^ “Castle Rock v. Gonzales”. Cornell University Law School. http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-278.ZS.html. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
^ See e.g. 1 section 2 of the Police Act of North Rhine-Westphalia:”Police Act of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia” (in German). polizei-nrw.de. Land Nordrhein-Westfalen. http://www1.polizei-nrw.de/im/Recht/Polizeigesetz/. Retrieved 2008-08-10. 
^ The United States Park Police Webpage, NPS.gov
^ “Law Enforcement Statistics”. Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/lawenf.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-23. 
^ Das, Dilip K., Otwin Marenin (2000). Challenges of Policing Democracies: A World Perspective. Routledge. pp. 17. 
External links
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Australia
Military Police vehicle in Australia
In the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police also performs the role of a secondary communications network in the front battle zone. In the Royal Australian Navy, the Naval Police Coxswain Branch performs dual roles of performing general police duties, investigation of criminal offences and a secondary role of ships’ coxswain staff responsible for administration of ships’ personnel. In the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force Security Police perform the military police role, and train military working dogs for the Australian Defence Force. All major crimes committed by or against personel of the Australian Defence Force are investigated by the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service. Austria
Military Police Command (Kommando Militrstreife & Militrpolizei Kdo MilStrf&MP)
Emblem of the Austrian MP
The Austrian Military Police Command, located in Vienna, consists of the following elements
Military Police HQ
Fundamentals Division
Training Division
Signal platoon
Close protection
3 MP Companies
MP militia
The Military Police has three locations in Austria. The Military Police Command and one MP Coy are located in Vienna. One MP Coy is in Graz and one in Salzburg.
The Military Police is the branch within the Austrian Armed Forces tasked with law enforcement and the protection of the forces, military events and Austrian Armed Forces property. The increasing number of international operations with the participation of Austrian soldiers and new threat scenarios hugely expand the spectrum of tasks. Additionally to its traditional domestic tasks, the formation now also fulfils tasks in international operations. In Austria the Military Police is only tasked with internal Armed Forces matters. Abroad, the Military Police is tasked with extensive assignments. It closes the security gap between a conflict that has ended and a functioning society. A large number of experienced specialists and modern equipment are required to meet these demanding tasks.
Tasks
National tasks
Check routines and security checks
Security duty
Traffic control
Close Protection
Force Protection
Law enforcement
Inquiries
International tasks
Taking down traffic accidents
Crime scene investigation
Fingerprinting and photographing
Interrogations
Searches/investigations/support in interventions
Detention of dangerous criminals
Crowd and riot control
Operation of detention facilities
Interventions (Special weapons and tactics – SWAT)
Close Protection
Defence against terrorism
Address
Kommando Militrstreife & Militrpolizei
Maria Theresien Kaserne
Am Fasangarten 2
1130 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: +43-1-5200-39112
Fax: +43 1 5200 17 565
e-mail: kdomilstrf@bmlvs.gv.at Belgium
The Belgian Army’s Military Police Group (Groupe Police Militaire in French, Groep Militaire Politie in Dutch) performs military police duties on behalf of all four components of the Belgian military. The group is headed by a lieutenant colonel and has 188 members in five MP detachments.
The Military Police Group staff is located in the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the Brussels suburb of Evere. Alpha Detachment located at Evere covers the province of Flemish Brabant and the capital, Brussels. Bravo Detachment covers the Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and Namur areas and is located at Nivelles. Charlie Detachment located at Marche-en-Famenne covers the Liege and Luxembourg areas. Delta Detachment covers the Limbourg and Antwerp areas and is located at Leopoldsburg. Echo Detachment located at Lombardsijde covers Western and Eastern Flanders.
The Military Police force carries out the following missions:
Maintenance of order and discipline: Consists of monitoring, maintaining and, if necessary, re-establishing discipline and military order. This also involves controlling stragglers and refugees in times of war and guarding and escorting prisoners of war.
Traffic regulation: Includes traffic monitoring and regulation to ensure the flow of military movements in accordance with plans. This includes route reconnaissance and marking, convoy and oversize vehicle escort and river crossing control. Traffic accident investigations is also a part of the job.
Security missions: Prevents and deters any threat to or attack against the personnel and property of the armed forces. The Military Police force protects, for example, the Palace of the Nation and the Parliaments and Councils of the Regions and the Communities, headquarters and classified conferences. MPs also provide VIP motorcycle escorts and honour guards, perform close protection missions, and escort classified documents and money transports.
The Belgian Military Police has also taken part in multinational peacekeeping missions such as Afghanistan, Kosovo and Congo. The Federal Police Military Crime Division (DJMM) performs all investigations involving the armed forces.
In 2003, duties relating to refugees and deserters in wartime were transferred from the then disbanded Gendarmerie Nationale to the MPs. Members of the former 4 and 6 MP Companies were merged into the new MP Group, along with some Gendarmes previously assigned MP-related duties.
Belgian MPs are identified by black armbands with the letters MP in white block letters, worn on the left arm. Brazil
Brazilian Army Police soldier
‘Military police’ in Brazil has two meanings – there are provost corps for each of the Brazilian Armed Forces: Army Police (Portuguese: Polcia do Exrcito, PE) for the Army, Navy Police (Portuguese: Polcia da Marinha) for the Navy, and (Portuguese: Polcia da Aeronatica, PA) Air Force Police for the Air Force.
The second type are the preventative police, with military organization comparable to gendarmerie, called the Military Police (Portuguese: Polcia Militar). Each State has their own Military Police.
There is also a joint National Public Security Force (Portuguese: Fora Nacional de Segurana Pblica), created under the presidency of Luiz Incio Lula da Silva. This force is composed of the most qualified State Military Police personnel from all the states, only to be used when the governor of a state asks for help to control a significant security crisis. Cambodia
The Gendarmerie, or “Military Police”, known as the Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia is a paramilitary unit with about 7,000 soldiers deployed in all provinces. It is headquartered in Phnom Penh. The unit’s chain of command is through the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces High Command.
The Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia is deployed in every province and cities to keep the law in orders. Military police in Cambodia play an important role in Cambodia society which keep law and orders in cities like the National Police. Canada
A Canadian military police officer participating in the 24th annual Golden Coyote exercise in June.
Main article: Canadian Forces Military Police
Canadian Forces military police functions are currently carried out by the Canadian Forces Military Police. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service handles investigations.
The Canadian Forces Provost Marshal is the head of the military police in Canada.
Prior to the amalgamation of Canada’s Army, Navy and Air Force into the unified Canadian Forces in 1968, separate service branches had performed military police functions independently: the Canadian Provost Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force Police.
The role of the Military Police in Canada has two main groups. The first group is “Garrison Operations”, which includes all policing activities regarding investigations and patrols. The second group is in “Operational Support”, such as POW convoy escorts, VIP’s close protection, route reconnaissances and provide all elements of securtity while deployed.
The Canadian Military police all wear a red beret regardless of their attachment to the maritime, land or air command. They also wear a shoulder patch on the left arms with bilingual writing: MILITARY POLICE MILITAIRE. Republic Of China (Taiwan)
Unlike military police in many other countries, the Republic of China Military Police (traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Jhnghu Mngu Sinbng) are a separate branch of the ROC Armed Forces. The ROCMP are responsible for enforcing military law, maintaining military discipline, providing backup for the civilian police force or serving as combat troops during times of emergency, providing security for certain government buildings, including the Presidential Building in Taipei City, as well as performing counter-terrorism and VIP protection operations. The ROCMP are also charged with the defense of the capital Taipei. Colombia
In Colombia, MPs (Policia Militar in Spanish) are very common. They can be seen guarding closed roads, museums, embassies, government buildings and airports. Croatia
Croatian MP in uniform
The Croatian Military Police (in Croatian: Vojna Policija) is a part of the Croatian Armed Forces (in Croatian: Oruane Snage Republike Hrvatske). The Croatian Military Police was formed on the 27 August 1991, shortly after the National Guard Corps (Croatian: Zbor Narodne Garde) now the Croatian Army was formed.
Parts of Croatian Military Police are:
NSVP – Military Police Education center “Bojnik Alfred Hill”
66th Military Police Battalion
67th Military Police Battalion
68th Military Police Battalion
69th Military Police Company
70th Military Police Company
71st Military Police Battalion
72nd Military Police Battalion
73rd Military Police Battalion (HRM (Croatian Navy))
74th Military Police Company (HRZ (Croatian Air Force))
75th Military Police Battalion Czech republic
The MILITARY POLICE Corps (Czech vojensk policie) was set up on 21 January 1991. Within the provisions of the Czech Law No. 124/1992 Dig. regarding the Military Police, they are responsible for police protection of armed forces, military facilities, military material and other state property controlled by the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. The Military Police are a professional force.
The Military Police are headed by a Chief, who directly reports to the Minister of Defence.
As of 1 July 2003, the Military Police officers are equipped with accessories black in colour, including their distinctive feature – the black beret.
The structure is based on the territorial principle. The Military Police subordinated headquarters are located in Prague, Star Boleslav, Tbor, and Olomouc.
Military police officers are assigned directly to military units, and they form also part of military contingents of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic in foreign deployments. Foreign Deployments:
The military police officers serve within contingents of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic on foreign operations on the territory of Iraq and on the Balkans, and as of March 2007 its SOG (Special Operation Group) also in southern Afghanistan in the Helmand Province.
While the Iraqi Multinational Forces mission and ISAF mission in Afghanistan rotate every three months, the Balkan’s Joint Guardian/Joint Enterprise operation in Kosovo (KFOR) is rotated every six months.
logo Vojensk Policie
Special Operation Group
Military Police Prague
Military Police Tbor
Military Police Olomouc
Military Police Star Boleslav Denmark
corporal of Danish navy military police insignia
Danish navy military police vehicles
In Denmark the military police (Danish: militrpoliti) services are carried out by branches under each service. The navy and army each have their own military police branch, whereas the air force does not have a military police branch as such but has an installation guard branch (Danish: stationselementet), and a combat support wing which handles military police duties in either national or international tasks. They fulfill exactly the same duties as MP’s in the two other branches.
MP-personnel typically wears either branch-specific display dress uniforms with white shoulder-markings with the text MP or the branch-common daily battle dress uniforms, with a red beret. In the air force the MP-shoulder markings is typically replaced with markings saing either VAGT or GUARD, but for international missions they also uses the MP-markings.
MP-personnel generally doesn’t have elevated legal authority towards civilians in non-military places, but only towards military personnel and on military installations (also public accessible places like Holmen naval base in Copenhagen). On some occasions MP-personnel can support the civilian police in certain tasks, but will only have slightly more legal authority than civilians – similar to the police home guard.
In the army military police are almost without exception NCO’s or officers, whereas the navy and air force relies mainly of Danish ranks OR-1 to OR-3.
Furthermore the home guard has a police branch, which supports both the civilian Danish police and the military police.
Typical MP-jobs are:
Installation/perimeter guard
Personnel protection
Traffic control
Courier services
Prisoner transport Finland
The Sotilaspoliisi (literally, “Soldier Police”) are the military police of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish MPs wear a black armband on the left shoulder with the letters ‘SP’ in white. A military policeman is usually armed with a 9 mm pistol, a baton, pepper spray and handcuffs on his belt. The military police includes both career and conscript personnel, and is primarily used to guard military installations and supervise military traffic. All military police personnel are trained with basic police techniques and usually receive training for fighting in urban areas. The military police have power over civilians only inside military areas and installations. However, a military police patrol may stop a crime that it witnesses in process in a civilian area. Additionally if a military police unit is near to a serious crime taking place, such as a robbery or an assault, and the civilian police are delayed, a military police unit that is near to the scene can offer to handle the situation until the civilian police arrive.
As with some other Finnish Defence Forces units, the military police can be used to provide assistance to the civilian police when they are undermanned or lack special resources. In such case, the military police may take measures which the civilian police deems necessary. For example, during the 2005 Helsinki World Athletic Championship Games, military police conscripts and career personnel were placed along the marathon route to prevent the large numbers of spectators from obstructing the runners.
The crimes committed by military personnel are, as a rule, investigated by the military. Minor infractions are usually investigated by the career personnel of the unit, while more serious crimes are investigated by the investigative section of the General Staff of the Finnish Defence Forces. In minor matters, the company commander or his superiors may use disciplinary powers, but more serious cases are deferred to the civilian prosecutor who will take the case to the district court. In military cases, the district court and superior courts include military members in addition to the professional judge. Officers with at least major’s rank have privilegium fori to have their cases tried by the Court of Appeals as a court of first instance. France
French gendarme on MP duty inside a multinational force (note the MP armband)
The Gendarmerie Nationale acts as both the military police and one of the two national police forces of France. The Gendarmerie Navale (also called the Gendarmerie Maritime) polices the Navy (and also acts as a coast guard and water police force) and the Gendarmerie de l’Air polices the Air Force; both are branches of the Gendarmerie Nationale. Germany
During World War II, Germany had numerous military police units. The primary units were the Feldgendarmerie, which comprised members of the Gendarmerie. Other units included the Army Patrol Service (Heeres-Streifendienst), the Train Station Guards (Bahnhofswache), and the Feldjgerkorps.
The Feldjger are the current military police of the German Bundeswehr. The term Feldjger (“field rifleman” or “field hunter”) has a long tradition and dates back to the mid-17th century. Their motto is Suum Cuique (“To each his own”, derived from Cicero, De Finibus, Bonorum et Malorum, liber V, 67: “(…) ut fortitudo in laboribus periculisque cernatur, (…), iustitia in suo cuique tribuendo.”). Greece
Parade of the Greek Military Police wearing the winter uniform ().
From early on it was necessary to create a body responsible to the disciplinary control of the military departments and the certificate of compliance with the orders of the Tribunal. The former military police units started up in 1945 under the orders of Hellenic Army General Staff. From 1951 to the Law 1746/51 is now the official organ of the Administration with mission and responsibilities. Then reorganized several times by the Law 276/76 renamed military police (Greek: ) link title , as it is called today. The Hellenic Military Police (Greek: ) , generally known in English by the acronym ESA (Ellinik Stratiotik Astinoma) was the main security secret police and intelligence organisation during the Greek military junta from 1967 to 1974. The Air Force in 1945 founded the unit titled Greek Police Aviation (), (Greek: ) or Aeronomia Athens ( ). In 1976 was renamed by the Greek Police Aviation in A link title. The Police Military of Navy (.NA.), Greek: NAs / link title , was created by the Greek Navy , at 31st January, 2005. These three Military Police forces work together often but are independent from each other.
Greek Military Policemen waiting for Commands. India
India’s Corps of Military Police personnel patrolling the Wagah border crossing in the Punjab in a Maruti Gypsy.
The Corps of Military Police (CMP) is the military police of the Indian Army. In addition, the CMP is trained to handle prisoners of war and to regulate traffic, as well as to handle basic telecommunication equipment such as telephone exchanges. They can be identified by their red berets, white lanyards and belts, and they also wear a black brassard with the letters “MP” imprinted in red.
Internal policing duties in a regiment (or a station) are handled by the Regimental Police, who are soldiers of the unit who are assigned to policing tasks for a short period of time. They are essentially used to regulate traffic, and can be identified by a black brassard with the letters “RP” embossed in gold or white.
The Indian Air Force is policed by the Indian Air Force Police. They can be identified by their white peaked caps, white lanyards and belts (with a pistol holster). They also wear a black brassard with the letters “IAFP” imprinted in red.
The Indian Navy has the Navy Police, and they can be identified by a black brassard with the letters “NP” in gold, with the state emblem placed in between the N and the P. Ireland
The Irish Military Police (colloquially A, deriving from the official title, Piln Airm) are responsible for the prevention and detection of crime in the Irish Defence Forces. Entry to the PA is restricted to serving members of the Defence Forces. All members of the Corps are NCOs, with Officers being transferred in for temporary assignments. Unlike many Military Police Services, they retain responsibility for the controlling access to many, but not all, military posts. In addition they provide a military detachment to the Oireachtas (Houses of Parliament) and have a large ceremonial role. In the past they had a role in training armed elements of the Garda Siochana but in recent times this has decreased. Historically, they were responsible for detaining political prisoners in Military Prisons (until the handing over of Military Prisons at Cork, Spike Island, Arbour Hill and the Curragh to the Civil Authorities) and in the past occasionally provided firing squads for executions (the last time being the mergency period of 1939-1946). Israel
The Israeli Military Police Corps (Heil HaMishtara HaTzva’it) is the military police/provost of the Israel Defense Forces. It also helps monitor prisons containing Israeli soldiers. At times of emergency enemy detainees are held and sorted by the military police.
The corps has very few civilian jurisdiction and for that reason works in conjunction with the Israel Police when civilians are involved. The Israel Border Police is Israel’s Gendarmerie-equivalent. Italy
Italian Carabinieri with the MP uniform.
The Arma dei Carabinieri is a gendarmerie force which acts as both the military police and one of the three national police forces in Italy. Formed on July 13, 1814, it has been for almost two centuries the senior branch of the Italian Army, until on October 5, 2000 it had become a fully independent Service of the Italian military.
With a strength of about 120000, the Arma dei Carabinieri is a very large organization, including its own Air and Naval Services, but most of its personnel is used for civilian police duties.
The properly Military Police components of the Arma dei Carabinieri are grouped into the “Divisione Unit Mobili Carabinieri” (Carabinieri Mobile Units Division), organized as follows:
2nd Brigade: 1st Carabinieri Parachutist Regiment “Tuscania”. 7th Carabinieri Battalion “Trentino – Alto Adige”. 13th Carabinieri Battalion “Friuli – Venezia Giulia”. Gruppo Intervento Speciale.
From this units are drawn most of the elements that form the Carabinieri MP coys, platoons and detachments assigned to all the major Italian Army, Navy and Air Force units, as well as many of the personnel forming the MSU Regiments (Multinational Specialist Units) and the IPUs (Integrated Police Units) serving abroad in support of European Union, NATO and United Nation missions. The Arma dei Carabinieri have gained a very good reputation for the professionalism and organization of their MP units in support of international missions, so much that during the 2004 G8 Sea Island Conference the Carabinieri have been tasked to organize and run the CoESPU (Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units), to centralize the training of multinational MP units for international missions.
The 1st Brigade of the same “Divisione Unit Mobili Carabinieri”, organized on 11 Mobile battalions and 1 Cavalry Regiment, does contribute to form the same Military Police components as the 1st Brigade, but is mostly tasked to riot control civilian police duties. It is worth to note that inside each of its battalions there is usually a small Mechanized company, so in case of war they are likely to be mobilized for combat duties (as it happened during both World Wars).
The Guardia di Finanza acts as a specialized Military Police force when called upon. Its normal duties include being a force acting in border control, customs duties, and police investigations about financial crimes and illegal drug trafficking. Japan
During World War II, the Kempeitai were the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Tokeitai were the military police of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They also performed intelligence and secret police functions and were active in Japan and its occupied territories. They also maintained Special Research Units which conducted research and development into biological warfare.
Today’s Japan Self-Defense Forces maintain military police units. Malaysia
A military police personnel patrolling the House of Parliament with a Honda ST1300 during the Nation 52nd Independence Day celebration
The Kor Polis Tentera DiRaja (Royal Military Police Corps) performs military police duties in the Malaysian Army. Apart from enforcing discipline and conduct of members of the Army, the Corps oversees security of designated Army installations, performs escort and ceremonial duties, and assists civil law enforcement authorities. The Kor Polis Tentera is also tasked with crime prevention and investigating criminal activities on Army property or by military personnel.
With its roots in the British Royal Military Police, members of the Kor Polis Tentera DiRaja also wear the distinctive red peaked cap, white lanyard and belt, as well as a black brassard with the letters “PT” imprinted. PT stands for “Polis Tentera” with “Polis” being the Malay translation for “Police” while “Tentera” being the Malay translation for “Military”. Military police on traffic duty can also be seen to wear armbands which sport the letters “MP” in red. NATO
Evolution of Military Policing
During the Cold War the approach of NATO to military policing was to provide Military Police support to National Forces in terms of:
Traffic Control,
Military Security, and
Law & Order.
Post cold war, this has now evolved into:
Mobility Support,
Security,
Policing, and
Detention. Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the function of military police is performed by the Koninklijke Marechaussee (“Royal Constabulary”), a separate branch of the military independent of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Besides performing military duties, the Marechaussee is also a gendarmerie force.
The word Marechaussee seems to derive from the old French name Marecheaux given to an ancient court of justice in Paris called the “Tribunal of Constables and Marshals of France”. These constables and marshals were to become members of the Gendarmerie which served as a model for the police forces of both Belgium and the Netherlands. The term Marechaussee was also used for the Continental Army’s military police during the American Revolution. New Zealand
In the New Zealand Army, the Corps of Royal New Zealand Military Police only recruits internally, with applications only being accepted from personnel who have served for at least two years. MPs may be either career soldiers or from the Territorial Army (part-time soldiers).
The Royal New Zealand Air Force recruits directly for Air Security Guards, who carry out military police functions and are responsible for providing security as well as ground defence training and drill/ceremonial training for other RNZAF Staff.
The Royal New Zealand Navy, like the Army, does not recruit directly into their “police” branch. Instead, personnel of a certain rank and time-in-service may apply for the Master-At-Arms trade. Security of shore bases is the responsibility of New Zealand Defence Force civilian security personnel.
At all NZDF facilities, civilian staff are used to augment military police manpower, particularly for relatively simple tasks like ID checking and security patrols. This allows the MPs to concentrate on the more complex and specialised tasks within their areas of responsibility, such as criminal investigation. Many former servicemen and women find employment as Civil Security Guards at NZDF establishments and this helps keep their expertise in-house. Norway
Volkswagen Passats of the Norwegian military police
In Norway, military police are service members of the Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy or Royal Norwegian Air Force. Since about 2002, all are trained at Sessvollmoen Camp. MPs in the Army are assigned to the Military Police Battalion, located at Bardufoss, Troms county. The first battalion commander and Provost Marshal of 6. division Norwegian Army was Maj M Langvik, the current battalion commander is Lieutenant Colonel Jan Henry Norvalls. The battalion consists of approximately 50 officers and NCOs, and 150 privates and corporals. Norwegian MPs first go through a six-month selection/educational period, before being assigned to the battalion or to regimental duties with other units for the remainder of their twelve-month service. Norwegian MPs do not have authority over civilians, except on or in the vicinity of military installations, vehicles or other property or under martial law. They do have authority over military personnel, including in certain circumstances reservists, anywhere, including when such personnel are off duty.
The Heimevernet (“Home Guard”) also has MPs in its ranks. Usually each District (regiment) has one or two platoons, consisting exclusively of former regular or conscript military police personnel.
Norwegian MPs wear a red beret and a red lanyard around the left shoulder extending to the left front pocket. Only personnel currently serving as MPs are allowed to wear this. When on official duty, they also wear the MP armband, which is black with “MP” in red letters. It was previously worn on the right shoulder, but is now worn on the left shoulder, following NATO practice. They can also wear white webbing, or a number of items for special duties, like high visibility vests for traffic duty, or as mounted personnel while performing Motorcycle escort for the Royal Family or their official guests, etc.
Army canine units are also assigned to the MP battalion, but the personnel in such units are not necessarily MPs. Such personnel do not hold military police authority, and do not wear the MP insignia.
MPs have no other powers over civilians than ordinary members of the public, except inside, or in the immediate vicinity of military installations. More serious cases, like narcotics, are handed over to civilian police for investigation. Pakistan
The Pakistan Armed Forces maintain their own military police; Pakistan rangers was the first military police in Pakistan. After that “naval police introduced to join it. After that FC (frontier corps, NWFP), mehran force, maritime security agency and Pakistan national guards join it to law enforcement in Pakistan. “Naval police” is a Pakistan Navy’s military police, Pakistan rangers are the army’s police. Air force maintains its own military police. Philippines
The Philippine Armed Forces each maintain their own military police.
The former Philippine Constabulary was also known as the Military Police Command The Republic Act 6975 also known as The DILG Reorganization Act of 1991, the PC formed the basis of the PNP now under the Department of Interior and Local Government. Poland
The Military Gendarmerie (andarmeria Wojskowa, W) are the MP’s for the entire Polish military. Portugal
Portuguese Army Police patrol Volkswagen Golf
In Portugal, each branch of the armed forces has its own military police force. The Portuguese Navy has the Polcia Naval (Naval Police), the Portuguese Army has the Polcia do Exrcito (Army Police), and the Portuguese Air Force has the Polcia Area (Air Police). The Air Police is an Arm of its own inside the Air Force, but the Army Police is only a speciality of the Cavalry Arm and the Naval Police is a speciality of the Fuzileiros (Marines) Corps. The Navy also has a coast guard police force, composed by Portuguese Navy troops, the Polcia Maritima (Maritime Police), with the responsibility of guarding the Lisbon Naval Base and some other naval facilities, and to serve as a coast guard and criminal police in the area of responsibility of the Maritime Authority.
Portugal, also, has a gendarmerie type force, the GNR – Guarda Nacional Republicana National Republican Guard), that is a special corps of troops that executes both civil public security missions and military missions. In time of peace, the GNR is under operacional command of the Minister of Internal Affairs, but in time of war it can be put under the command of the Armed Forces.
A Humvee of the Romanian Military Police Romania
In Romania, the Romanian Military Police (Poliia Militar) carries out police duties for the Romanian Armed Forces. It usually handles military security and military crimes and it has national jurisdiction. The Romanian military police is organized in four battalions (two of them are headquartered in Bucharest, one in Iai and one in Trgu Mure). The Romanian Gendarmerie, although a military force with national jurisdiction, is not tasked with enforcing the law within the armed forces (in contrast to the French Gendarmerie, which acts as both military and national police force). Serbia
(Cyrillic: ) The Military Police are one of the best qualified and most combat-prepared organizations within the Serbian Military. Their responsibilities include counter terrorist operations, combating organized crime, securing hostages and search and rescue.
Specific training is provided for members of special units of the Military Police. Drills for Military Police units, from squad to battalion, are based on their anticipated tactical employment, including training in putting down civil disorder. The Security Directorate of the General Staff of the Serbian Military is responsible for overseeing the units of the Military Police.
See also:
Military Police Battalion Cobra
Military Police Counter-terrorist Battalion
andarmerija Sri Lanka
Each of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces has its own military police/Provost branch. The Sri Lanka Army is policed by the Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police and by Regimental Police, who belong to each individual regiments or corps.
The Military Police force carries out the following missions:
Maintenance of order and discipline: Consists of monitoring, maintaining and, if necessary, re-establishing discipline and military order. This also involves controlling stragglers and refugees in times of war and guarding and escorting prisoners of war.
Security missions: Prevents and deters any threat to or attack against the personnel and property of the armed forces. MPs also provide VIP motorcycle escorts and honour guards, perform close protection missions, and escort classified documents and money transports.
The Sri Lanka Navy is policed by the Provost Branch. The Sri Lanka Air Force is policed by the Air Force Police (AFP). Singapore
In Singapore, the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police Command serves as the law enforcement agency of the Singapore Armed Forces. The Command is headed by a Colonel, otherwise also known as the Provost Marshal. Its sub-units included the Military Police Enforcement Unit (including Special Investigations Branch and the ceremonial and drill components), the Detention Barracks (DB), The 1st Provost Bn, MP Training School and the Security Support Forces (including Military working Dog Wing, Close Protection and Security Ops Unit). The Command also collaborates closely with the Singapore Police Force in terms of policing work duties, investigations, etc. South Korea
Main article: Republic of Korea Military Police Sweden
In the Swedish Army, dragoons are the Military Police and Military Police Security Forces (MP SK). They form the Dragoons Battalion of the Life Guards. The Dragoons Battalion have roots that go back as far as 1523 making it one of the worlds oldest military units still in service. “Livdragon” is the rank of a private cavalryman. The Swedish Army Dragoons are one of few units that still use horses. Horses are being used for ceremonial purposes only, most often when the dragoons take part at the change of the guards at The Royal Castle. Switzerland
In the Swiss Armed Forces, the Military Police is responsible for law enforcement on military property and for all incidents where military personnel or equipment is involved. Furthermore, the military police provides protection of Swiss representatives abroad and is in part responsible for the guarding of embassies and foreign VIPs in Switzerland, as well as maintaining personal security for members of the Swiss Federal Council. In addition, the Swiss EOD Center is a branch of the MP for the disposal of UXOs and also participates in various demining operations around the world.
The professional MP units comprise 758 officers and are divided into four Regions, each consisting of two companies and additional groups specialised on criminal investigations and training. In addition, there are five militia MP battalions with a head count of roughly 2000 men.
Unlike regular army personnel, military policemen wear grey uniforms in order to provide distinct identification. Moreover, the MP is equipped uniquely, armed with SIG Pro side arms and SIG 552 assault rifles (compared to the standard issue SIG P220 pistol and SIG 550 assault rifle). Professional MP units drive patrol cars similar to those of the civilian police, but also use Piranha and Duro APCs. Image:0774793376006.jpg|Caption2 </gallery> Thailand
A Royal Thai Naval Military Police in Royal Ploughing Ceremony of 2009 at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.
In Thailand, each branch of the armed forces has its own military police force. The Royal Thai Navy has the (Naval Military Police) , the Royal Thai Army has the (Army Military Police), and the Royal Thai Air force has the (Air Force Military Police).
Air Military Police Department The duties of the military police are peacekeeping, securing, regulating the traffic discipline within the Air Force installations and housing area, tackling illegal objects including deserted officers and runaway accusers, escorting VIPs and investigating crimes which are under the authority of the Military Court. These investigations include prisoners of war, enemy aliens, refugees and displaced officers within the Air Force and designated areas. It is under supervision of the Commander of the Air Military Police Department.
There is one active Air MP Battalion called the Battalion of Military Air Police (). The Air Military Police Department is one unit under the supervision of the Office of Don Muang RTAF Base Commander ().
- Office of Don Muang RTAF Base Commander : – Air Military Police Department : – Battalion of Military Air Police Edit By. Masih Hamidi Turkey
The Military Police (Askeri nzibat) or (As.Iz.) are part of the Turkish Gendarmerie, one of the five branches of the Turkish Armed Forces, and constitute a very small dedicated force which handles military security and military crimes. Ukraine
The VSP is the Military Police for the entire Ukrainian Armed Forces United Kingdom
Main article: Military police of the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the term ‘Military Police’ refers to the Royal Military Police. The Royal Military Police are a Corps, belonging to the Adjutant General’s Corps, that is responsible for policing the British Army (both at home and overseas).
The term ‘Service Police’ is now used to describe the three separate police forces for the three branches of the UK’s Armed Forces: The Royal Military Police, The Royal Air Force Police and the Royal Navy Police. United States
United States Marine Corps MP Badge
Each branch of the military of the United States maintains its own military police force:
Military Police Corps/Provost Marshal – United States Army
Provost Marshal’s Office – United States Marine Corps
Masters-at-Arms branch (aided by temporary members of the Shore Patrol) – United States Navy
Air Force Security Forces (formerly called the Security Police and before that, the Air Police) – United States Air Force
Each service also maintains uniformed civilian police departments. They are referred to as Department of Defense Police (DoD Police). These police fall under each directorate they work for within the United States Department of Defense, for example: DoD Army or DoD Navy Police. There is in fact one United States Department of Defense police agency, the United States Pentagon Police, of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, are the police force of the Secretary of Defense and the federal police force for the Department of Defense, which includes The Pentagon and various other DoD locations within the National Capital Region (NCR). The Department of Defense Guard, Department of the Army (DA) Police, or Department of the Army Guard are examples of other DoD Army police. The police officers’ duties are similar to those of local civilian police officers. They enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Federal, State Laws and the regulations of their particular installation.
Criminal investigations in the United States Armed Forces are carried out by separate agencies:
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) – Navy and Marine Corps
Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) – Air Force
United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) -Army
Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) – Coast Guard
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) is a civilian agency that answers directly to the DOD as well as the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA).
The United States Constabulary was a gendarmerie force used to secure and patrol the American Zone of West Germany immediately after World War II.
Military police are trained to provide area security, usually by vehicle patrol, which is the mission of most military police stationed in Iraq. They are also trained in dealing with prisoners of war and other detainees, with special training in restraining, searching, and transporting prisoners to detainee camps. MPs can also be used as prison guards in detainee camps, although that responsibility usually falls on Internment/Resettlement Specialists, MOS 31E (Formerly Corrections Specialists). Warsaw Pact
The armed forces of the Warsaw Pact/USSR did not “officially” have military police, as the Soviet government put forth the philosophy that crime is virtually nonexistent within the communist utopia; therefore, the government considered it unnecessary to maintain a force to police the military. There were generally two separate agencies which handled military police duties:
The Komendantskaya sluzhba or “Kommandant’s Service” of the Red Army wore a yellow letter “K” on a red patch on the sleeve to indicate their membership of this service – the “de facto” army police.
A second organisation called the Traffic Regulators existed within the Rear Services. Traffic Regulators served to control military highway and motor vehicle traffic. Traffic Regulators also wear a white painted helmet with red stripes to indicate their status and either an armband ar patch with the Cyrillic letter “P” (R).
Note: When the Warsaw Pact countries did find it necessary to form police forces they called them”Militsiya” (militia). References
^ Vojska.net – strategy, wargaming, military history website
^ RMP Journal April 2007 External links
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