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Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (Policja), City Guards (named in urban areas "Straż Miejska" or in rural areas "Straż Gminna", which is a type of municipal police), and several smaller specialised agencies. The Prokuratura Krajowa (the Polish public prosecutor) and an independent judiciary also play an important role in the maintenance of law and order.
During the period of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's existence, most law enforcement was undertaken by a group of nobles of varying degrees of importance who possessed private armies and who, in return for political power and a place within the nation's social hierarchy, swore their allegiance, and that of their mercenary troops, to the king. As a result of the enduring power of several powerful 'magnates' within the social hierarchy, the relative weakness of the 'elected' monarchs and the continued existence of the feudal system in Polish society, centralised rule of law and enforcement of the same did not truly exist until the 1791 adoption of the 3 May Constitution.
The Constitution aimed to weaken the golden freedoms of the upper classes and redistribute a portion of their power amongst the mercantile middle classes. In addition to this, the establishment of a majority-voting Sejm and increased centralisation of sovereign power under the authority of the king, led to the establishment of a standing army, provided for by the state and subordinate only to the king and authorities of the national government.
As a result of the 1772–95 partitions of Poland, and subsequent rule of the partitioning powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia), the authority of King Stanisław August collapsed, and the former territories of the commonwealth came under the direct supervision of their partitioning powers' law enforcement services. [1]
In Austrian-controlled Galicia, the Imperial Gendarmerie became responsible for preserving public order and later became known for being arguably the least oppressive of the three occupying powers. In both the Russian and German territories of former Poland, it was widely reported that law enforcement agencies and paramilitaries engaged in both the oppression of Polish political organisations and the forced assimilation of local culture with those of their own nations. [2]
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, a new national police force was formed; this 'Polish State Police' (Policja Państwowa) [3] 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 [4] and Military Gendarmerie. [5]
With the end of World War II and the onset of the communist period, the new Soviet backed government decided to radically change to structure of policing in Poland; the state 'Policja' was renamed as the 'Milicja Obywatelska' (Citizen's Militia), 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'.
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.[ citation needed ]
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.
The Policja (Police) is the national police force of Poland. It is directly responsible to the national government. Officers are routinely armed and are responsible for the investigation of most ordinary crimes. They are responsible for many specialist services such as highway patrol and counter-terrorism. They can be contacted by calling "997" from any telephone. [6]
As Poland is a very centralised state, regional law enforcement agencies do not exist in the way that they do in the United States, Canada, Germany or the United Kingdom. While voivodeship (regional) commands exist within the organisational structure of the Policja, the regional authorities do not have any major say in law enforcement policy.
Several cities and gmina (English: municipalities) in Poland have their own municipal enforcement forces, primarily tasked with maintaining public order and enforcement of local ordinance, called Straż Miejska (English: City Guard) or Straż Gminna (English: Municipality Guard). They work in conjunction with the Policja, although with much more limited powers and do not carry firearms. They can be contacted by calling "986" from any telephone. [6]
The tasks of the Polish city guards include protecting public peace and order, safeguarding communal facilities and public utilities, traffic control, managing public events, dealing with intoxicated individuals in public, crime prevention, and escorting valuable documents and items for the municipality. They have the authority to issue warnings, impose fines for violations, identify individuals when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed, arrest those who pose an immediate threat, and, in isolated cases, conduct body searches.
In addition to the Policja and the City Guards, there are also several specialised agencies which operate with more specific objectives.
The Policja are routinely armed, and use a variety of marked and unmarked cars, vans, motorbikes and other vehicles. Their most common patrol car is currently the Kia Cee'd.
Other law enforcement agencies operate more standardised fleets which usually contain only one or two vehicle models. This is usually because City Guards source all the cars of their small fleets from one firm to reduce cost, whilst more specialised services buy large fleets of vehicles specific to their requirements, an example of which would be the large use of all-terrain Land Rover Defenders by the Border Guard.
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reconnaissance, logistic traffic management, counterinsurgency, and detainee handling.
Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the police municipale.
The Polish Border Guard is a state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Republic era from 1928 to 1939 and was reestablished in the modern-day Third Republic in 1990, going into operation the following year. During the communist era lasting from 1945 to 1989, the role of the border guard was carried out by the Border Protection Troops.
Milicja Obywatelska, known as the Citizens' Militia in English, was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic.
The Internal Security Agency, ISA is Poland's domestic counterintelligence and security agency. The ABW is responsible for analyzing, reporting and preventing threats to Poland's internal security, including terrorism, foreign espionage, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, organized crime, corruption and economic coercion. Its powers include arresting individuals, conducting searches and investigations, and combating terrorism with a specialized armed anti-terrorist force.
The Police is the Polish national civilian police force. It is a primary law enforcement agency in the country, tasked with providing public safety and order, investigating and preventing crime.
The Ministry of Public Security, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office, and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security Service.
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.
State Defense Guard was a military service established in 1936 to protect borders of Czechoslovakia.
Law enforcement in Turkey is carried out by several departments and agencies, all acting under the Ministry of Internal Affairs except military police which is under the command of the Turkish Armed Forces and the National Intelligence Organization which directly reports to the president.
Provosts are military police (MP) whose duties are policing solely within the armed forces of a country, as opposed to gendarmerie duties in the civilian population. However, many countries use their gendarmerie for provost duties.
In the Russian Federation, law enforcement is the responsibility of a variety of different agencies. The Russian police are the primary law enforcement agency, with the Investigative Committee of Russia as the main investigative agency, and the Federal Security Service (FSB) as the main domestic security agency.
Law enforcement in Finland is the responsibility of several agencies. The Police of Finland, a national police agency, is responsible for most tasks. The two other main agencies are the Finnish Border/Coast Guards and the Finnish Customs. Examples of other agencies with limited policing powers are the Finnish Defence Forces, municipal parking inspectors and railway staff.
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.
Straż miejska is the name given to the separate municipal police forces funded, directed and administered by some of the gmina (municipalities) of Poland. They operate in conjunction with the Policja, the Polish national police.
The Representative Band of the Policja is a musical unit of the Policja of the Republic of Poland. It is responsible for providing musical support and rendering honors to the President of Poland and the Minister of the Interior and Administration in the capital of Warsaw. It has been under the baton of Chief Conductor Janusz Trzepizur and Drum Major, Staff Sergeant Jakub Pietrucha. Being that it is a central band, it is the seniormost of three Polish police bands, with the other two being based in Wrocław and Katowice.