This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(March 2015) |
Sovereign Base Areas Police | |
---|---|
Common name | Sovereign Base Areas Police |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 15 August 1960 |
Employees | 253 |
Jurisdictional structure | |
National agency (Operations jurisdiction) | SBA |
Operations jurisdiction | SBA |
Map of the Sovereign Base Areas Police's jurisdiction. | |
Size | 250 km2 |
Population | 14,000 |
Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction |
Governing body | Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Sovereign Base Areas Police HQ, British Forces Episkopi |
Military appointment responsible |
|
Agency executive |
|
Parent agency | Ministry of Defence |
Facilities | |
Stations | 3
|
Prisons | His Majesty's Prison, Dhekelia |
Patrol cars | Yes |
Armed response vehicles | Yes |
Dogs | Yes |
Website | |
www |
The Sovereign Base Areas Police is the local civilian police force for the British controlled Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus.
Established in August 1960, the force has responsibility for all 15,000 residents of the SBAs, including military personnel. The Cyprus Joint Police Unit (the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and RAF Police), has concurrent jurisdiction over all offences committed by service personnel and UK dependents/employees within the SBAs, garrisons, and stations, and other retained military sites outside the SBAs.
Both work in full cooperation with each other and any jurisdiction issues are managed through an agreed memorandum of understanding. [1]
The SBA Police consists of a total of 241 officers and 12 civilian employees.[ citation needed ] There are British senior officers, with the remainder recruited from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. [2] In addition to its regular policing duties, the SBA Police has responsibility for the operation of HMP Dhekelia (the SBA Prison).
Although the SBA Police is administered by the Ministry of Defence, [3] it is a separate force from the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP). [4]
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue without law enforcement authority. In most countries, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from those of the navy and the transit police, while in certain countries they have similarities to both.
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself, are part of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal self-governance, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence, foreign relations and internal security, and ultimate responsibility for good governance. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians, except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
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.
The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises. Members of the RMP are often known as 'Redcaps' because of the scarlet covers on their peaked caps and scarlet coloured berets.
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus. The areas, which include British military bases and installations formerly part of the Crown colony of Cyprus, were retained by the British under the 1960 treaty of independence signed by the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey and representatives from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The territory serves an important role as a station for signals intelligence and provides a vital strategic part of the United Kingdom surveillance-gathering network in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Ayios Nikolaos Station is a British military station and part of in the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia in Cyprus. It is a former village connected by a road to the main area of the Dhekelia Garrison. The Joint Service Signal Unit (Cyprus), formerly 9th Signal Regiment and the Royal Air Force's 33 Signals Unit, is based at Ayios Nikolaos. This unit is a British Armed Forces run electronic intelligence gathering station.
The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violence between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and to facilitate a return to normal conditions. Major General Ingrid Gjerde is the current Force Commander of UNFICYP, appointed in 2021, and preceded by Cheryl Pearce (Australia). Assistant Police Commissioner Satu Koivu (Finland) is the current Senior Police Adviser appointed in 2021.
British Forces Cyprus (BFC) is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus and at a number of related 'retained sites' in the Republic of Cyprus. The United Kingdom retains a military presence on the island in order to keep a strategic location at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, for use as a staging point for forces sent to locations in the Middle East and Asia. BFC is a tri-service command, with all three services based on the island reporting to it.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
Episkopi Cantonment is the capital of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British overseas territory on the island of Cyprus, administered as a military base. It is located in the northwestern part of the Western Sovereign Base Area (Akrotiri), one of the two areas which comprise the territory. Although it is not the largest of the British military bases on the island, it is home to both the civilian and military administration headquarters of the Sovereign Base Areas. Episkopi is the current command centre of British Forces Cyprus.
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 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.
Sovereign Base Areas Customs and Immigration is a semi-autonomous branch of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom. It has jurisdiction over Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus, administered as a Sovereign Base Area, and home to British Forces Cyprus. It is managed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and around 3,500 military personnel are posted there at any one time.
In the United Kingdom, the term military police refers to the three branches of service police, responsible for policing armed forces personnel. The Royal Military Police polices the British Army, the Royal Navy Police polices the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force Police polices the Royal Air Force.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT people.
Dhekelia Cantonment is a military base in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus, administered as the Sovereign Base Areas. It is located in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area, one of the two areas which comprise the territory. It is the larger of the British military bases on the island, and it is also the location of Alexander Barracks, which is home to 2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. In autumn 2017 the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment deployed to Dhekelia replacing 2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
Overseas military bases of the United Kingdom enable the British Armed Forces to conduct expeditionary warfare and maintain a forward presence. Bases tend to be located in or near areas of strategic or diplomatic importance, often used for the build-up or resupply of military forces, as was seen during the 1982 Falklands War and the use of RAF Ascension Island as a staging post. Most of the bases are located on British Overseas Territories or former colonies which retain close diplomatic ties with the British government.