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Police are
public servants of a city, town, municipality, county, or
state, with the responsibility of maintaining law and order
(law enforcement). The word comes
from French police, itself from
Latin politia ("civil
administration"), itself from Ancient Greek p???te?a,
referring to government or administration, from Greek p????
(polis) = "city". The word police
was first recorded in the French language in 1250 (in the
sense of "administration, political organisation"), but it
acquired its modern sense of preservation of law and order
only in the 17th century. The police may also be known as a
constabulary, after constables, who were an early
manifestation of police officers, although the term constable
is still in use in some jurisdictions. In North America,
typically the legal term for "police officer" is peace
officer. Other names include trooper, sheriff, marshal,
constable, and ranger.
History
In ancient times, the military was
mostly responsible for maintaining law and order in cities.
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. Beginning in the
5th century, policing became a function of clan chiefs and
heads of state. Local lords and nobles were responsible to
maintain order in their lands, and often appointed a
constable, sometimes unpaid, to enforce the law.
The concept of police in the modern
sense was developed by French legal scholars and practitioners
in the 17th century and early 18th century, with notably
Nicolas de La Mare's authoritative Traité de la Police ("Treatise of the
Police") published between 1705 and 1738. As a result of this
development of jurisprudence, 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". The lieutenant général de
police had under his authority 44 commissaires de police ("police
commissioners"), who were later assisted by some inspecteurs de police ("police
inspectors") created in 1709. 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 lieutenant
generals of police in all large French cities.
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. [1]
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, were "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 and was different from previous law enforcement in
that it practiced preventative policing. This was quickly
followed in other Scottish towns, which set up their own
police forces by individual Acts of Parliament [2]. 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 authorised 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. [3]
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 Montréal and Québec 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.
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.
Restrictions upon the power of the
police
Polish
Prevention Detachment
Polish
mounted policeman, Poznan
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 FBI, internal affairs, or the Justice
Department. 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. A potential solution can be found in
state of Texas, US. Texas allows cities to keep only a small
percentage of the revenue generated by the traffic tickets,
with another small percentage going to the county structure
and the rest being allotted to the state. This approach has
cut down on the profitablity of the traffic tickets and
allowed for cities to concentrate on the public safety.
- Further
information: Secret police , Police
state, Corporate police state, Thought
police, and Police brutality
Internal police hierarchies and
divisions
Most police forces contain subgroups
whose job it is to investigate particular types of crime.
In most Western police forces, perhaps
the most significant division is between "uniformed" police
and detectives. Uniformed police, as the name suggests, 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. Detectives, by contrast, 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. This type of policing shares much
with espionage.
Specialized 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 specialised 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,
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.
Lastly, Western law enforcement
commonly employs "internal affairs" police whose job is to
oversee and investigate the officers themselves. They
sometimes do not carry firearms and limit their work to
fighting bribery, graft, and other forms of internal
corruption.
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 behavior.
Police vehicles
-
Main article: Police
car
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 a four door sedan (saloon in the UK), much
like a normal sedan (saloon) but with enhancements. 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
-
Main article: Law enforcement in
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
-
Main article: Belgian
police
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
-
Main article: Policing in
Brazil
In Brazil there are five 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. Some
cities have City Guards.
Canada
-
Main article: Policing in
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, seven of
the ten provinces choose to employ the RCMP as their
provincial police force rather than establishing their own
police services; the exceptions are Ontario, Quebec, and
Newfoundland and Labrador. 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 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
-
Main articles: People's Armed Police
and Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of
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
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)
-
National Traffic Police, a highway
patrol organization responsible for traffic safety, doubling
as a national police reserve. (Finnish: Liikkuva poliisi,
literally: Mobile police)
-
Security Police, responsible for
the national security and the investigation of related
crimes. (Finnish: Suojelupoliisi, a.k.a. Supo)
In addition, the Police operate a
technical support center, an IT center, 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 and the Customs have wide enforcement
powers in matters pertaining to their jurisdictions. The
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. The unit commanders have some police powers in
their respective units, and the military police guards the
bases and military installations. In addition, the General
Staff of the Finnish Defence Forces includes an investigative
section responsible for crime investigation and
counter-intelligence.
Germany
-
Main article: Policing in
Germany
With
a safeguarding 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 calledBundesgrenzschutz (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:
ast???µ?a; IPA:
[a'sti.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 -
Main article: Police Force (Hong
Kong)
The Hong Kong Police Force (Chinese:
????; pinyin: Xianggang Jingchá ) is the police force of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
India
-
Main article: Indian
Police
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. Ireland The Republic of Ireland has an unarmed
police agency, An Garda Síochána, although they are all
trained to use firearms and all detectives and special units
carry them. Gardaí usually patrol in patrol cars or on foot in
urban areas. Israel
Main article: Israel Police 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
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Italy
Main article: Italian
police
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.
Japan
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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. Japan's police 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
Main article: Royal Malaysian Police
The
Traffic Cop Officer from Royal Malaysian Police with Honda CBX
750 Traffic motobike
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 Agence of Investigations) - Mexican FBI
- Policia Federal Preventiva (Federal
Preventive Police)
- Seguridad Pública Municipal (Town's
Public Security)
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 the only body with a pure policing role (both law & traffic), although other agencies include the New Zealand Customs Service, the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, and the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.
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Philippines <
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The police in the Philippines is
called Philippine National Police (Pulisya, Pambansang Pulisya
ng Pilipinas in Tagalog)
Russia
The police in Russia are called
??????? (
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 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.
Sweden
-
Main article: Swedish Police
Service
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 Müdürlügü ) 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
Main article: Policing in the United
Kingdom
Mounted UK police officer. There are 43 police constabularies in
the United Kingdom, of varying sizes and responsibilities, as
well as a number of other forces. UK police were once known as
'Peelers' (and more commonly as 'Bobbies') after Sir Robert
Peel, who created the London Metropolitan Police Force (one of
the first modern police forces in the world) in 1829.
United States
-
Main article: Policing in the United
States In the United States, the FBI (Federal
Bureau of Investigation) and other federal agencies are
limited to the enforcement of federal laws. All other
offenses, including most types of crimes, fall under the
purview of state police or the thousands of local police
forces.
| 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 · Japan · Kenya ·
South Korea ·
Macau · Malaysia ·
Netherlands · New Zealand · Norway ·
Puerto Rico ·
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.
See also
Police roles
-
Auxiliary police
- Bailiff
- Capitol police
- Civil police
-
Company police
- Constable
- Cops in shops
- County police
|
- Cybercop
- Detective
- Federal police
- Fire police
- Gendarmerie
-
Highway patrol
-
Marshal
|
-
Military police
- Mounted police
- National police
-
Park ranger
- Police Explorers
- Police officer
- Riot police
|
- Security police
- Secret police
- Sheriff
- Special police
- Special Constable
- State police
|
- University Police
- Tipstave
- Transit police
- Vice Unit
-
Water police
|
Related concepts
- Arrest
- Citations
-
Copwatch
-
Crime
- Crimestoppers
- Courts
- Forensics
- Frisking
- Law
- Mug shot
- Police car
- Police patch collecting
- Police station
- Police academy
- Police training officer
- Posse comitatus
- Traffic stop
- Wanted poster
- All text is available
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