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A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any agency which enforces the law. This may be a special or local police/sheriffs, state troopers, and feds such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Also, it can be used to describe an international organization such as Europol or Interpol. This is a list of law enforcement agencies, organized by continent and then by country.
International – Africa – Asia – Europe – North America – Oceania – South America – Disbanded |
Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia)
Federal level
Local level
Civilian
Military
Territorial police forces
National police forces
National non-police law enforcement forces
Military Service police forces
British Overseas Territories police forces
MOD overseas police forces
Overseas service police forces
Department of the Air and Space Force
Each one of Argentina's twenty-three provinces has its own Provincial Police force.
Note: Many of these fall under the definition of secret police and derive from that list.
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.
A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countries as traffic police, although in other countries this term is more commonly used to refer to foot officers on point duty who control traffic at junctions.
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction over the relevant sub-national jurisdiction, and may cooperate in law enforcement activities with municipal or national police where either exist.
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.
Water police, also called bay constables, coastal police, harbor patrols, marine/maritime police/patrol, nautical patrols, port police, or river police are a specialty law enforcement portion of a larger police organization, who patrol in water craft. Their patrol areas may include coastal tidal waters, rivers, estuaries, harbors, lakes, canals or a combination of these.
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.
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.
The Federal Police, formerly known as the Policía Federal Preventiva and sometimes referred to in the U.S. as "Federales", was a Mexican national police force formed in 1999. In 2019 it was incorporated into the National Guard and operated under the authority of the Department of Security and Civil Protection.
Law enforcement in Spain is carried out by numerous organizations, not all of which operate in the same areas.
Airport police units are a security police agency assigned to perform law enforcement functions at airports. They provide a wide range of law enforcement duties and responsibilities including patrol, investigation, traffic flow management, and control and response to airport emergencies. Airport police provide enhanced safety to airport employees, and to passengers. Officers can be found at security gates, throughout the terminal area, and around the airport’s perimeter.
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.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (Policja), City Guards, and several smaller specialised agencies. The Prokuratura Krajowa and an independent judiciary also play an important role in the maintenance of law and order.
Law enforcement in Mexico is divided between federal, state, and municipal agencies. There are two federal police forces, 31 state police forces including two for Mexico City, and 1,807 municipal police forces. There are 366 officers per 100,000 people, which equals approximately 500,000 in total.