   #copyright

Police

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Law

   Police are agents or agencies empowered to use force and other forms of
   coercion and legal means to effect public and social order. The term is
   most commonly associated with police departments of a state that are
   authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined
   legal or territorial area of responsibility. The word comes from the
   Latin politia (“civil administration”), which itself derives from the
   Ancient Greek πόλις, for polis ("city"). The first police force
   comparable to the present-day police was established in 1667 under King
   Louis XIV in France, although modern police usually trace their origins
   to the 1800 establishment of the Marine Police in London, the Glasgow
   Police, and the Napoleonic police of Paris.

   The first modern police force is also commonly said to be the London
   Metropolitan Police, established in 1829, which promoted the preventive
   role of police as a deterrent to urban crime and disorder. The notion
   that police are primarily concerned with enforcing criminal law was
   popularized in the 1930s with the rise of the Federal Bureau of
   Investigation as the pre-eminent " law enforcement agency" in the
   United States; this however has only ever constituted a small portion
   of policing activity. Policing has included an array of activities in
   different contexts, but the predominant ones are concerned with order
   maintenance and the provision of services. Alternative names for police
   force include constabulary, gendarmerie, police department, police
   service, or law enforcement agency, and members can be police officers,
   constables, troopers, sheriffs, rangers, or peace officers.

History

Pre-modern Europe

   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, manhandling prisoners, and making arrests.
   Other duties associated with modern policing, such as investigating
   crimes, was left to the citizens themselves. The Roman Empire had a
   reasonably effective law enforcement system until the decline of the
   empire, though there was never an actual police force in the city of
   Rome. When under the reign of Augustus the capital had grown to almost
   one million inhabitants, he created 14 wards, which were protected by
   seven squads of 1,000 men. If necessary, they might have called the
   Praetorian Guard for assistance. Beginning in the 5th century, policing
   became a function of clan chiefs and heads of state.

   The Anglo-Saxon system of maintaining public order was a private system
   of tithings, since the Norman conquest lead 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.

The invention of "police"

   In Western culture, the contemporary concept of a police paid by the
   government was developed by French legal scholars and practitioners in
   the 17th century and early 18th century, notably with Nicolas
   Delamare's Traité de la Police ("Treatise of the Police", published
   between 1705 and 1738). The German Polizeiwissenschaft (Science of
   Police) was also an important theoretical formulation of police.

   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 of Europe and considered the most dangerous European
   city. The royal edict, registered by the Parlement of Paris on March
   15, 1667 created the office of lieutenant général de police
   ("lieutenant general of police"), who was to be the head of the new
   Paris police force, and defined police as the task of "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 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 44 commissaires de police, each assigned to a particular
   district and assisted in their districts by clerks and 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 or
   towns.

   However, this early conceptualization of police was quite different
   from today's police forces, exclusively in charge of maintaining order
   and arresting criminals. As conceptualized by the Polizeiwissenschaft,
   the police had an economical and social duty ("procuring abundance").
   It was in charge of demographics concerns and of empowering the
   population, which was considered by the mercantilist theory 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.), surveillance
   of prices, etc .

   Development of modern police was contemporary to the formation of the
   state, later defined by sociologist Max Weber as detaining "the
   monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force," primarily exerced by
   the police and the military. Despite its differences, this definition
   was not completely alien to the Marxist definition of the state as a
   "repressive apparatus" guarding the bourgeoisie's interests.

Modern police

   After the troubles of the French Revolution the Paris police force was
   reorganized by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800 as the Prefecture of
   Police, along with the reorganization of police forces in all French
   cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. On March 12, 1829, a
   government decree created the first uniformed policemen in Paris and
   all French cities, known as sergents de ville ("city sergeants"), which
   the Paris Prefecture of Police's website claims were the first
   uniformed policemen in the world.

   In the United Kingdom, the development of police forces was much slower
   than in the rest of Europe. 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).

   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 that differed from previous law enforcement in
   that it was a preventive police force. This was quickly followed in
   other Scottish towns, which set up their own police forces by
   individual Acts of Parliament . In London, there existed watchmen hired
   to guard the streets at night since 1663, the first paid law
   enforcement body in the country, augmenting the force of unpaid
   constables. 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 group of
   Police are often referred to as ´Bobbies´ due to the fact that it was
   Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel who authorized it. They were regarded as the
   most efficient forerunners of a modern Police force and became a model
   for the police forces in most countries, such as the United States, and
   most of the then British Empire (Commonwealth) Bobbies can still be
   found in many parts of the world. (Normally British Overseas
   Territories or ex-colonies, Bermuda, Gibraltar or St Helena for
   example). The model of policing in Britain had as its primary role the
   keeping of the Queen's Peace and this has continued to the present day.
   Many of the Commonwealth Countries developed Police Forces using
   similar models such as Australia and New Zealand.

   In Northern America, the Toronto Police was founded in Canada in 1834,
   one of the first municipal police departments on that continent,
   followed by police forces in Montreal and Quebec City both founded in
   1838. In the United States, the first organized police service was
   established in Boston in 1838, New York in 1844, and Philadelphia in
   1854.

Police armament and equipment

   Many law enforcement agencies have heavily armed units for dealing with
   dangerous situations, such as these U.S. Customs and Border Protection
   officers.
   Many law enforcement agencies have heavily armed units for dealing with
   dangerous situations, such as these U.S. Customs and Border Protection
   officers.

   In many jurisdictions, police officers carry firearms, primarily
   handguns, in the normal course of their duties.

   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 when, in 1980 the Metropolitan Police
   handed 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 allow its use against fleeing felons
   and escaped convicts. Police officers often carry handcuffs to restrain
   suspects.

   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, whistles, and, most importantly,
   notebooks and "ticketbooks" or citations. In the Department of
   corrections they do not have SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams,
   they have CIRT teams. CIRT stands for Critical Incident Response Team.
   CIRT responds to to most violent crimes in the most dangerous of
   prisons.

Restrictions upon the power of the police

   Polish Prevention Detachment
   Polish Prevention Detachment
   Polish mounted policeman, Poznań
   Polish mounted policeman, Poznań
   Polish Bus police
   Polish Bus police
   Polish policeman from Prevention Detachment
   Polish policeman from Prevention Detachment

   In order for police officers to do their job, they may be vested by the
   state with a monopoly in the use of certain powers. These include the
   powers to arrest, search, seize, and interrogate; and if necessary, to
   use lethal force. In nations with democratic systems and the rule of
   law, the law of criminal procedure has been developed to regulate
   officers' discretion, so that they do not exercise their vast powers
   arbitrarily or unjustly.

   In U.S. criminal procedure the most famous case is Miranda v. Arizona
   which led to the widespread use of Miranda warnings or constitutional
   warnings. U.S. police are also prohibited from holding criminal
   suspects for more than a reasonable amount of time (usually 72 hours)
   before arraignment, using torture 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 U.S. 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, 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.

Difficult issues

   Police organizations must sometimes deal with the issue of police
   corruption, which is often abetted by a code of silence that encourages
   unquestioning loyalty to one's comrades over the cause of justice. In
   the comparatively rare event that an officer breaks this code on a
   significant scale, they may receive death threats or even be left for
   dead, as in the case of Frank Serpico. One way to fight such corruption
   is by having an independent or semi-independent organization
   investigate, such as (in the United States) the Federal Justice
   Department, state Attorneys General, local District Attorneys, a police
   department's own internal affairs division, or specially appointed
   commissions. However, independent organizations are generally not
   called except for the most severe cases of corruption.

   Some believe that police forces have traditionally been responsible for
   enforcing many bigoted perspectives which have been prevalent at
   various periods throughout history. Ageism against teens, homophobia,
   racism, and sexism are views which police have been charged with having
   held and enforced.

   Some police organizations are faced with routine accusations of racial
   profiling. Police forces also find themselves under criticism for their
   use of force, particularly deadly force, when a police officer of one
   race kills a suspect of another race. In the United States, such events
   routinely spark protests and accusations of racism against police.

   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 accquital has depicted
   American police as 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 authority of police
   specifically and the criminal justice system as a whole increasingly
   complicated. 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, local
   departments have been compelled by legal action initiated by the US
   Department of Justice under the 14th Amendment to enter into consent
   decree settlements to adopt such measures and submit to oversight by
   the Justice Department.

   Finally, in many places, the social status and pay of police can lead
   to major problems with recruitment and morale. Jurisdictions lacking
   the resources or the desire to pay police appropriately, lacking a
   tradition of professional and ethical law enforcement, or lacking
   adequate oversight of the police often face a dearth of quality
   recruits, a lack of professionalism and commitment among their police,
   and broad mistrust of the police among the public. These situations
   often strongly contribute to police corruption and brutality. This is
   particularly a problem in countries undergoing social and political
   development; countries that lack rule of law or civil service
   traditions; or countries in transition from authoritarian or Communist
   governments in which the prior regime's police were little more than
   praetorians.

   Some cities employ quotas of how many traffic tickets a police officer
   should write, although the practice is illegal in others. Furthermore,
   other cities deny that there are quotas, but many police officers have
   come forward stating that they are pressured to write traffic tickets,
   since they usually produce revenue for the local government issuing the
   tickets. Some cities make millions of dollars annually on traffic
   tickets, which helps fund local government. Many rural jurisdictions
   (towns) generate 90% of their revenue from traffic tickets. A few
   cities have actually admitted there are quotas. This can be an issue
   with the general populace as well as an issue within the police
   department. In some cities, police complain about being turned into tax
   collectors by the politicians preventing them from doing their real
   job, which they consider to be fighting crime and keeping the peace.

Police organization

   In most Western police forces, perhaps the most significant division is
   between preventive ("uniformed") police and detectives. Terminology
   varies from country to country.

Patrol officers

   Preventive Police, also called Uniform Branch, Uniformed Police,
   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. Unusually, in Brazil, preventive police are known as
   Military Police.

Detective police

   Detective Police, also called CID, Investigations Police, Judiciary
   Police / Judicial Police, or Criminal Police, are responsible for
   investigations and detective work. They typically make up roughly 15% -
   25% of a police service's personnel.

   Detectives services often contain subgroups whose job it is to
   investigate particular types of crime.

   Detectives, by 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, sometimes for
   long periods, to investigate crimes, such as organized crime,
   unsolvable by other means. In some cases this type of policing shares
   some 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. 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. 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 behaviour.

Specialized units

   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. 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.

Investigating crimes committed by the police

   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 Police Complaints Authority (now
   Independent Police Complaints Commission). Likewise, some state and
   local jurisdictions, for example, Springfield, Illinois have similar
   outside review organizations.

Military police

   There are two types of military police service:
     * Gendarmeries are military police services that work in civilian
       populations.
     * Provost services are military police services that work within the
       armed forces.

Police vehicles

   Anti-riot armoured vehicle of the police of the Canton of Vaud in
   Lausanne, Switzerland
   Anti-riot armoured vehicle of the police of the Canton of Vaud in
   Lausanne, Switzerland

   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 cities and counties have started
   using unmarked cars, or cars with minimal markings 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.

   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.

Police around the world

   In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of
   government, there may be several police or police-like organisations,
   each serving different levels of government and enforcing different
   subsets of the applicable law.

Australia

   The majority of policing work is carried out by the police forces of
   the six states that make up the Australian federation. The Australian
   Federal Police are responsible for policing duties in the Australian
   Capital Territory, and investigating crimes relating to federal
   criminal law (particularly crimes with an international dimension)
   nationwide.

Belgium

   The majority of policing work is carried out by the local police
   forces. The Federal Police are responsible for policing and
   investigating crimes relating to federal criminal law (particularly
   crimes with an international dimension) nationwide.

Brazil

   In Brazil there are six types of police forces: the Brazilian Federal
   Police, the Brazilian Federal Highway Police, the Brazilian Federal
   Railway Police, the states military polices and states civilian
   polices. More than 400 cities have City Guards.

Bulgaria

Colombia

Canada

   In Canada, all criminal law (including the Criminal Code of Canada)
   falls under federal jurisdiction, but policing is a provincial
   responsibility. However, there is a national police force known as the
   RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), which is tasked with enforcing
   certain federal laws throughout the country. Additionally, eight of the
   ten provinces choose to employ the RCMP under contract as their
   provincial police force rather than establishing their own police
   services; the exceptions are Ontario, Quebec. Newfoundland has retained
   the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary for limited use, but still uses the
   RCMP for the majority of its provincial policing. In most provinces
   individual towns and cities are allowed, or required, by law to set up
   their own local police forces to provide policing inside their
   communities. Those municipalities (approx. 300 in total) who do not
   have their own police forces instead will contract either the RCMP
   (with the federal government absorbing some of the cost) or their
   provincial force to police the community.

China

   In China, civilian police is mainly done by the People's Police,
   although the paramilitary police, the People's Armed Police, is still
   prominent. The People's Police is under the administration is Ministry
   of Public Security, and the People's Armed Police is under the
   administration of China's People's Liberation Army.

Finland

   A Finnish police van.
   A Finnish police van.

   Finland has a single national police force, working under the
   jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and the interior minister
   of the government. It is organized into local police and national
   units. The 90 police departments of the local police are responsible
   for the usual uniformed police functions and minor criminal
   investigations. Local state districts are also police districts, and
   are under the jurisdiction of their provinces. The national police
   units include the
     * National Bureau of Investigation, which is responsible for major
       criminal investigations. (Finnish: KRP, keskusrikospoliisi /
       Swedish: CKP Centralkriminalpolisen)
     * National Traffic Police, a highway patrol organization responsible
       for traffic safety, doubling as a national police reserve.
       (Finnish: Liikkuva poliisi / Swedish: Rörliga polisen, literally:
       Mobile police)
     * Security Police, responsible for the national security and the
       investigation of related crimes. (Finnish: Suojelupoliisi, a.k.a.
       Supo / Swedish: Skyddspolisen, literally: Protection Police)

   In addition, the Police operate a technical support center, an IT
   centre, a Police School, and a Police College.

   The characteristic colors are silver on deep blue; only these colors
   are used in the uniform. Police cars are blue and white, and have only
   blue flashing lights. The insignia features a sword with a lion's head
   as its handle.

   There are three organizations having limited law enforcement powers, in
   additions to the Police. The Finnish Border Guard(Rajavartiosto) and
   Customs (Tulli) have wide enforcement powers in matters pertaining to
   their jurisdictions. The Border Guard can be seen patrolling urban
   areas in green vehicles with blue lights and Customs travel in blue
   vehicles with blue lights. Both organisations' officers are armed with
   the same equipment as the regular police. Conductors on trains and
   ticket inspectors also have limited police powers. In addition, the
   Finnish Defence Forces investigate most military-related crimes of
   military personnel and military unit commanders have limited police
   powers within their respective units. The military police guard
   military bases and installations as well as having the power to
   interfere in a crime that they can see is happening in a civilian area.
   In addition, the General Staff of the Finnish Defence Forces includes
   an investigative section responsible for crime investigation and
   counter-intelligence.

France

Germany

   Image:BGS.jpg
   Public order duty in Dresden.

   Germany is a federal republic of sixteen states. Each of those states
   has its own police force (Landespolizei). Each is supervised by the
   Minister (or, in Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin, the Senator) of Internal
   Affairs of the state.

   In addition, the federal government has two police agencies, called the
   Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Investigation Bureau or BKA) and
   Bundespolizei (Federal Police or BPOL). Until 2005, the BPOL was called
   Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Protection), but after expanded
   competence in the 1990s and the abolition of border controls in the
   European Union, its name was changed.

Greece

   The Greek Police Force ( Greek: αστυνομία; IPA: [aˈsti.no.mia]) is the
   police force of the Hellenic Republic. Tourism Police are an integral
   part of the Hellenic Police (ELAS), consisting of men and women
   especially trained and competent to offer tourists information and
   help, whenever they have any problems. They are trained in resolving
   minor differences between tourists and commercial enterprises. They all
   speak foreign languages, including English. They are distinguished by a
   shoulder badge displaying Tourism Police on their uniforms.

Hong Kong

   The Hong Kong Police Force (Chinese: 香港警察; pinyin: Xiānggǎng Jǐngchá )
   is the police force of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of
   the People's Republic of China.

Iceland

   The Icelandic National Police (Lögreglan and Ríkislögreglan) is
   Iceland's police force which is under the Ministry of Justice and
   Ecclesiastical affairs. The National Commissioner is the overall
   commander, but he answers to the minister. The police is divided into
   districts. Iceland also has a Customs police force (Tollgæslan) which
   is under the Minstry of Finance. Icelandic policemen generally do not
   carry firearms, instead they carry telescopic batons and pepper spray.
   The National Commissioner has a Special operations unit which is called
   Víkingasveitin.

India

   The Indian Police is a state-operated police force.

International Police

   The International Police is a functional organization made up of police
   officers from all over the world, serving mostly under the direction of
   the United Nations, to help train, recruit, and field police forces in
   war torn countries. The force is usually deployed into a war torn
   country initially acting as the police, and bringing order. In the
   process, they recruit and train a local police force, which eventually
   takes on the responsibilities of enforcing the law and maintaining
   order, whereas the International Police then take on a supporting role.
   To date, International Police forces have been deployed to East Timor,
   Haiti, Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Liberia, Croatia, and
   Macedonia, among others.

Republic of Ireland

   The Republic of Ireland has an unarmed police agency, the Garda
   Síochána. Most members are trained in the use of firearms but remain
   unarmed on patrol; the exceptions are detectives and special unit
   operatives, who are armed. This was a result of the founding of the
   Gardai after the Irish Civil War (1921-23) when it was seen as a
   necessary step to gain public confidence for the new state and its
   police force. Gardaí usually patrol in patrol cars or on foot in urban
   areas, though some use horses or bicycles to assist them in their work.

   They have a police helicopter and a fixed wing aeroplane to assist in
   high speed chases. There are 12,000+ Members of the Garda Síochána,
   possibly the highest per-capita police force in the EU.

Israel

   The Israeli Police (Mishteret Yisra'el) is a state-operated police
   force. It is currently headed by the commissioner Moshe Karadi. The
   Israeli Police has a military corps called the Border Guard (MAGAV),
   which has its own elite counter-terrorist units.

Italy

   Italian public security is provided by three separate police forces:
   Arma dei Carabinieri ( paramilitary police), Guardia di Finanza
   (customs police, border and financial police, also organized as a
   military force), Polizia di Stato (state police). In recent years
   Carabinieri units have been dispatched all over the world in
   peacekeeping missions, including Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

   The Guardia di Finanza is a Special Italian Police force at the service
   of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. The Guardia di Finanza is a
   Military Corps and is an integral part of the Italian Armed Forces as
   well as of the law enforcement agencies. Its duties primarily involve
   investigating money-related crimes, such as tax evasion, financial
   crimes, customs and border checks, money laundering, smuggling,
   international drugs trafficking, illegal immigration, Terrorist
   Financing, credit cards frauds, money counterfeiting, copyright
   violations, cybercrime, maintaining public order and safety, political
   and military defense of the Italian borders. The Guardia di Finanza has
   a great Naval Fleet for the overseeing of the sea border, and a great
   air force.

   The Polizia di Stato (State Police) is the National Police of Italy.
   Among with common patrolling, investigative and law enforcement duties,
   it is responsible for patrolling the Autostrada (Italy's Express
   Highway network), and overseeing the security of railways, bridges and
   waterways.

Luxembourg

   The Grand Ducal Police (French: Police Grand-Ducale) is the primary law
   enforcement agency in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The police is
   under the control of the Luxembourgian Minister for Justice, although
   they operate in the name, and under the ultimate control, of the Grand
   Duke. The Grand Ducal Police has existed in its current form since 1
   January 2000, when the gendarmerie was merged with the police. The
   Grand Ducal Police is responsible for ensuring Luxembourg's internal
   security, maintaining law and order, and enforcing all laws and Grand
   Ducal decrees. It is also responsible for assisting the military in its
   internal operations, as prescribed by the Grand Duke.

Japan

   Toyota Crown police car in Aichi Prefecture, Japan
   Toyota Crown police car in Aichi Prefecture, Japan
   Fig.1. Police officer hung up with his belt at a sharp edge of a rock
   in vicinity of the Tenno beach, Japan.
   Fig.1. Police officer hung up with his belt at a sharp edge of a rock
   in vicinity of the Tenno beach, Japan.

   Police in Japan are an apolitical body under the general supervision of
   an independent agency, the National Police Agency, and free of direct
   central government executive control. They are checked by an
   independent judiciary and monitored by a free and active press. The
   police are generally well respected and can rely on considerable public
   cooperation in their work.

   Police also protects the residence of the Emperor family (tenno),
   Fig.1.

Malaysia

   The Royal Malaysian Police or Polis Diraja Malaysia in Malay is a main
   branch of security forces in Malaysia. The force is a centralized
   organization that has a gamut of roles that ranges from traffic control
   to intelligence. Its headquarters is located in Bukit Aman, Kuala
   Lumpur.

Mexico

   The Mexican Police system is:
     * Agencia Federal de Investigaciones ( Federal Investigations Agency)
       - Mexican FBI
     * Policia Federal Preventiva ( Federal Preventive Police)
     * Policia Estatal Preventiva ( State Preventive Police)
     * Policia Municipal Preventiva ( Municipal Preventive Police)

Morocco

   The Moroccan police is called Sûreté Nationale. It is tasked with
   upholding the law and public order. It works alongside the Gendarmerie
   Royale.

Netherlands

   The Dutch police is a government agency charged with upholding the law
   and public order and providing aid. It is also the investigation
   service for the Attorney General of the Judiciary.

New Zealand

   The New Zealand Police are charged with enforcing law in New Zealand.
   They are a single national police force with a broad policing role
   (community safety, law enforcement & road safety). The New Zealand
   Police is an unarmed police, although access to firearms is available
   when circumstances dictate. New Zealand Police works with other
   government agencies and non-government groups to achieve the best
   safety outcomes for all New Zealanders.

Norway

   The Norwegian Police force ( Norwegian: Politiet) is a national police
   force under the department of justice and police. The police force is
   divided into 27 regional police departments, and seven national special
   departments. All the departments contains about 11.000 employees, with
   Oslo police precinct as the biggest with 2300 employees.

   The Norwegian police usually does not carry guns, as one of the few in
   the world. They are instead armed with a telescopic baton and a can of
   pepper spray

Pakistan

   The police in Pakistan is under the control of each province. Only
   Capital city police is an exception which is under federal Government
   control with its own setup. A separate police force is for managing
   traffic called traffic police.

Perú

   The national police force in Perú is called Policía Nacional del Perú
   or PNP ( official site, in Spanish). They are the state police force
   but they serve many of the same role in the cities that local police
   forces assume in other countries, such as traffic control at
   intersections. Peruvian cities (or Lima-area districts) each have their
   own "Serenazgo" forces, which perform patrol duties like a
   neighbourhood watch and call upon the PNP as needed. There is more
   information for tourists on how to deal with the Peruvian police forces
   if necessary in the wikitravel page on Perú.

Philippines

   The police force in the Philippines is called Philippine National
   Police (Pulisya, Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas in [Tagalog].) It is
   under the authority of the Department of the Interior and Local
   Government and while supposedly civilian in character, most of its high
   ranking officers are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy and
   are former soldiers. They are often seen in the scene of the crime even
   before people call for help, and are also majorly involved in organized
   crime such as drug trafficking and black market activities. Most of the
   higher officials are paid millions to provide alliance with corrupt
   government officials who earn their positions based not on election but
   on power and stolen money.

Poland

Romania

Russia

   The police in Russia are called милиция ( militsiya). This change of
   name started at the Russian Revolution via a Communist political idea
   of "replacing the capitalist police by a people's militia"; but the
   name "militsiya" has persisted after the Communist system collapsed.
   One reason may be to avoid confusion with the astonishing number and
   variety of words which start with pol- in Russian and related
   languages.

   The standard Russian police baton is made of rubber. In some areas
   however wooden batons are used because the winter cold makes rubber
   brittle. The normal service uniform is grey with red piping and hat
   band. Fur hats and heavy greatcoats are worn in winter.

Singapore

   Police National Service officers help boost manpower requirements in
   the Singapore Police Force
   Police National Service officers help boost manpower requirements in
   the Singapore Police Force

   The Singapore Police Force (Abbreviation: SPF) is the main agency
   tasked with maintaining law and order in the city-state. Formerly known
   as the Republic of Singapore Police.

Sri Lanka

   The national police service in Sri Lanka is Sri Lanka Police. The elite
   counter Police Counter-Terrorist force the Special Task Force has taken
   security duties around the island.

Sweden

   The police in Sweden (in Swedish: Polisen) is a national police force
   under the Department of Justice. It is divided into the National Police
   Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) and 21 regional police departments
   corresponding to the Counties of Sweden. The National Police Board is
   divided into the National Criminal Investigation Department
   (Rikskriminalpolisen) and SÄPO, or Säkerhetspolisen, the Swedish
   Security Service. There is also a the national response and
   counter-terrorism team called "National task force" or Nationella
   insatsstyrkan.

   The police officers are usually armed with the SIG P226 9 mm pistol, a
   telescopic baton and a can of pepper spray.

Thailand

   The Thai police are subdivided into several regions and services, each
   enjoying their own powers.
     * Crime Suppression Division, Thai FBI
     * Immigration
     * Traffic police

Turkey

   The Turkish Police (Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü) provides law enforcement
   and security matters mostly in cities and metros.

Vietnam

   The police force in Vietnam is called the People's Police. It answers
   to the Ministry of Public Security.

United Kingdom

   Mounted UK police officer.
   Mounted UK police officer.

   There are over 52 police forces in the United Kingdom, of varying sizes
   and responsibilities. UK police were once known as 'Peelers' (and more
   commonly as 'Bobbies') after Sir Robert Peel, who created the London
   Metropolitan Police force in 1829.

   Most British police forces come under the administration of the Home
   Office, but others do not; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate
   forces to the combined England & Wales network.

   There are also non-geographic police forces: The non-Home Office
   British Transport Police, MOD Police, and special police forces for
   guarding nuclear power stations and police forces for the Ports of
   Liverpool and Dover. With the exception of some of the special forces,
   the majority of British police are never routinely armed, relying on a
   extendable baton instead and special armed units are called in only
   when necessary.

   Recently the UK amalgamated several agencies to from SOCA comparable in
   some ways to the American FBI; though other functions being perfomed by
   MI5.

   Uniquely in Britain, there are police forces of Crown Dependencies such
   as the Isle of Man, Falkland Islands, and States of Jersey & Guernsey,
   who have police forces that share resources with the UK police, whilst
   having a separate administration within their own governments.

United States

   Prisoner transport by the United States Marshals Service.
   Prisoner transport by the United States Marshals Service.

   In the United States, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and
   other federal agencies such as the United States Secret Service and the
   US Marshals are limited to the enforcement of federal laws and usually
   specialize in certain crimes or duties. Most crimes constitutionally
   fall under the jurisdiction of state police or the thousands of local
   police forces. These include county police or sheriff's departments as
   well as municipal or city police forces. Many areas also have special
   agencies such as campus police, railroad police, housing police, or a
   district or precinct constable.
                           Policing around the world

   Australia · Bermuda · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Canada ·
   Chile · People's Republic of China · France · Germany · Hong Kong ·
   India · Indonesia · Ireland · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Japan ·
   Kenya · South Korea · Macau · Malaysia · Netherlands · New Zealand ·
   Norway · Puerto Rico · Romania · Russia · Singapore · South Africa ·
   Sweden · Republic of China (Taiwan) · Turkey · United Kingdom ·
   United States · Vietnam

Interpol

   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.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
