Police of Poland
The Police is the national civilian police service of Poland. It is the country’s primary law enforcement agency, responsible for public security and order as well as the prevention and investigation of crime. It operates under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration.
Polish Police is headed by the Commander-in-Chief of Police, subordinate to the Minister of the Interior and Administration. The Police is supported by municipal forces of city guards, having less legal authority and with jurisdiction only over prosecuting contraventions.
Terminology
The force's name, Policja, translates into the English language as Police.An individual officer is typically called a policjant ; these are not, however, official titles and are not included in the official rank structure, they are simply terms used to refer to any police officer regardless of the rank they may hold. A police station is known as Komenda Policji or Komisariat Policji both of which translate more or less into English as Police Commissariat. Female officers may be referred to as policjantki, the singular of which is policjantka.
On the whole, officers' individual ranks are not used by the general public and thus when addressing an officer, it is common to hear the term Pan, Polish for mister/miss used to refer to police officers. On occasion, this may or may not be followed by the terms Oficer or Funkcjonariusz.
History
In 1919, with the re-independence of the Polish nation, the state reorganised itself along non-federalist lines and established a centralised form of government. Under the auspices of the new government and with assistance from a British mission of soldiers and police officers led by Brigadier-General Gordon Macready, a new national police force was formed; this State Police then existed as the primary law enforcement agency for the entire nation up until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. During the inter-war period, a number of key law enforcement duties were delegated to other formations, such as the Border Guard and Military Gendarmerie.With the end of World War II and the History of [Poland #Creation of the Polish People's Republic |onset] of the communist period, the new Soviet backed government decided to radically change the structure of policing in Poland; the state 'Policja' was renamed as the 'Milicja Obywatelska', a name which was meant to reflect a change in the role of the police, from an instrument of oppression ensuring the position of the bourgeoisie, to a force composed of, and at the service of 'normal citizens'. Ironically the reality turned out to be largely the opposite and the Milicja instead represented a rather state-controlled force which was used to exert political repression on the citizens. The Milicja was, for the most part, detested by the general populace; events such as the police's conduct during the Gdańsk Shipyard Strike and surrounding the Popiełuszko affair, only worsened the people's view of their law enforcement agencies.
After the fall of the communist government in Poland, the system was reformed once again, this time reviving the pre-war name of 'Policja' and albeit with a few minor changes, the general system of law-enforcement of the Second Republic.
Equipment
Today, most common types include various models from Kia Škoda, Alfa Romeo, Ford Mondeo, Opel, Volkswagen, and Toyota, as of 2011 the FSO Polonez is no longer in use. The Polish police force has, since joining the European Union, been undergoing a thorough restructuring and has in the process acquired a large number of new vehicles; as of 2011 this process is still ongoing and new vehicles are constantly being procured in order to replace ageing old patrol cars as their service lives come to an end. In addition to standard sedan and hatchback model vehicles, the Policja has been investing significant amounts of money in developing their ability to respond to any incident no matter where it may be, this has in turn led to the purchase of a large number of all-terrain 4x4 vehicles and multi-purpose vans and trucks. This expansion in capabilities was a stated requirement of the police force's restructuring program.Beginning in 2009, the painting scheme is being modified to a silver body design with blue reflective strip, similar to modern German police cars.
Traditionally, vehicles were painted a dark blue color with side doors painted in white, and with white stripes and the word "POLICJA" on both sides. Earlier versions had a thinner stripe with the word "POLICJA" written under it. This design was adopted from the paint scheme used by the communist milicja. Some formerly used vehicles even had visible traces of the word "POLICJA" being corrected from "MILICJA", with the first two letters in a different shade of white, on a patch of a different shade of blue.
All uniformed and most non-uniformed officers of the state police are routinely armed. In addition to their firearm, Policja officers carry handcuffs and a number of other pieces of equipment which usually includes a personal radio system for communication with other officers and their police station. Pepper spray is also commonly issued to officers in order to provide them with a non-lethal alternative weapon with which to incapacitate violent suspects.
Riot police, when needs be, are provided with non-ballistic body armour, helmets and shields. Less-lethal weaponry is also used by riot-control units such as shotguns with rubber bullets, tear gas canisters or water cannons. Sometimes they also deploy LRAD units. The strict control of civilian firearms ownership in Poland, only recently liberalized, has significantly aided the police in keeping gun crime to a minimum, and thus the incidence of police firearms use is low.
Firearms
| Name | Country of origin | Type | Notes | ||||||||||||
| Gward | Revolver | Virtually phased out | |||||||||||||
| Walther P99 AS | Semi-automatic pistol | Manufactured in Poland in Łucznik Arms Factory under license | |||||||||||||
| Glock | Semi-automatic pistol | 17, 19 and 26 variants in use | |||||||||||||
| CZ-75 |  CzechoslovakiaCurrent patrol fleetThe below list is not intended to be a full list of all the vehicles used by the Polish Police, instead it lists the most commonly used vehicles.Patrol carsAs of 1 January 2018;As of 1 January 2018;
The commander’s apparatus is the National Police Headquarters based in Warsaw's Puławska Street. It is from here that the day-to-day administration and organisation of the Polish police's activities is coordinated. The headquarters is considered to have jurisdictional supremacy over all its other units, and subordinate commanders are responsible to the general commander in their capacity as his regional 'executives'. The position has existed in a number of guises throughout the existence of the Polish police, and whilst the current office came into being following Poland's transformation into a liberal democracy in 1990, the same rank was also used for the highest-ranking officer of the State Police of the Second Republic during the inter-war years. Nowadays, holders of this office are considered to be successors to the commanders of the inter-war state police; commanding officers of the communist-era Milicja Obywatelska however, are not considered successors of the original cadre of Policja generals as they exercised authority over an organisation often utilised by the state as an instrument of political oppression. Since 1990 there have been twelve general commanders of the Policja who have completed their service. General Inspector Marek Papała, the former holder of the office, was assassinated by a person or persons unknown on 25 June 1998. He was shot in the head with a silenced weapon whilst exiting his car near his home in Warsaw's southern Mokotów district. The commander's murder remains unsolved and is considered to be one of the most significant outstanding cases under active investigation by the Polish police. Rank structureOfficersOther ranksStructure and branches of the PolicjaThe Policja is currently divided into a number of different services. Each voivodeship/municipal command has subdivisions within its force. This leaves the police service with a large number of specialised branches which can more specifically target certain types of crime and apply more expert knowledge in the investigation of cases relating to their area of policing. In addition to these specific groups, all police forces retain a majority of officers for the purpose of patrol duty and general law enforcement.Image:PolishPoliceEagle.png|upright|thumb|The cap badge of the Policja is common to all ranks and branches. Typically a constituent force of the Policja will contain the following subdivisions within its structure:
Anti-terrorism units (BOA/SPKP)The Policja has highly qualified and well-equipped counter-terrorism formations. The central anti-terrorism is , which is part of the Komenda Główna Policji. On a regional level, voivodeship commands have control of smaller units called [Independent Counter-terrorism Police Subdivision|SPAP, these units are responsible for, high-risk arrests, search warrant execution service, hostage rescue operations and other similar tasks.Because of their training and skill level, members of the BOA and SPKP units cooperate with similar special police formations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and other ATLAS members. They also, train with servicemen from Służba Ochrony Państwa, Straż Graniczna, Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego, Wojska Specjalne, and most recently with the U.S. Army and 10th CAB's premier special missions company, A/3-10 GSAB WarAngels. Peacekeeping and international cooperationSince the Policja's foundation in its current form in 1990, the service has taken part and continues to participate in a number of international peacekeeping and international police missions around the world. To date the Policja has sent officers to participate in the following international peacekeeping missions:
As a constituent member of Interpol, the Polish police is expected to adhere to the terms of International arrest warrants and cooperate with the police forces of other nations through formal diplomatic channels. In many cases such cooperation has led to the arrest of high-risk criminals. OrganisationThe Polish Police is a centralised police force, organised under one central command in Warsaw and with all officers assigned to one of 17 voivodeship/municipal operations' commands, except in the case that they are specialists working independently for the national commandant.Image:Pałac Mostowskich w Warszawie 05.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The Mostowski Palace in Warsaw, headquarters of the Capital Police Command Image:Polish Police Patrol Car.webp|thumb|right|250px|A police vehicle in central Warsaw. Image:02018 0358-001 27. Wallfahrt der Zuhörer von Radio Maryja.jpg|thumb|250px|Mounted police officers in riot gear. Regional headquartersPolice training establishmentsThe Policja has five training establishments sited within Poland. Four of these training establishments are police schools for enlisted personnel, whilst the fifth is a higher educational institution tasked with the education of officers and senior officials in a range of disciplines and expertises. The four junior colleges are located in:
Ceremonial unitsRepresentative Honour Guard Company of the PoliceThe Representative Honor Guard Company is the ceremonial drill unit of the police. Affiliated with the Representative [Honor Guard Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces], it performs public duties and drill and ceremony on behalf of the police force and the President of Poland. In regards to national events, it mainly performs during the annual National Independence Day ceremony in November alongside other honor units on Piłsudski Square.Representative Band of the PolicjaThe Policja's representative band was first founded in 1968. Its core was composed of a group of several musicians, which gradually expanded. From the beginning, the band improved rapidly, reaching a high artistic level, as reflected in the discretion of the judges at musical contests nationwide. In the years 1984, 1986, 1988, the band won its most prestigious trophy, the Cup of the Minister of Internal Affairs. From the outset, the musicians performed at various national, departmental, religious and state events. The band's musicians have on numerous occasions represented the Polish police outside the country, including concerts in Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus and Russia, yet they still value their well-kept tradition of playing performances for the ordinary residents of Warsaw. The band's musical repertoire includes marches, concert pieces, transcriptions of orchestral music and religious songs, as well as a great deal of other developmental music. Being the official representative band of the Policja, the group's musicians are often invited to play parade music for important events on national holidays such as the 3rd May Constitution Day.Criticism of the PolicjaOverall the level of trust in the Policja and its work has increased steadily over the years since 2001. In 2001 only 46% of respondents to a national survey carried out on behalf of the police categorised their work and achievements as 'good', however, by the end of 2009 this figure had grown significantly, and despite small undulations, an average of 72% rated the Policja's work as 'good' or better. This brings the level of trust in the police to around the same level of 64-75% seen in other member states of the European Union.Much in the same way as other national police forces, the Policja is sometimes criticised for the methods it employs in maintaining law and order, such criticism is typically voiced by Polish youth. This is most commonly expressed with the acronyms HWDP and JP. |
