State Police (Albania)

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Albanian State Police
Policia e Shtetit Shqiptar
Policia e Shtetit.svg
Patch of the State Police
Flamuri i Policise se Shtetit.svg
Flag of the State Police
Common namePolicia
Agency overview
Formed13 January 1913
Preceding agency
    • Gendarmerie (1925–1939)
    • People's Police (1945–1991)
Employees~ 10,958 [1] [2]
Jurisdictional structure
National agency Albania
Operations jurisdiction Albania
Size28,748 km2
Population2,402,113
Governing body Government of Albania
Constituting instrument
  • Law on "State Police"
General nature
Operational structure
Overseen by Ministry of Internal Affairs
Headquarters Bajram Curri Boulevard, Tirana
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Website
asp.gov.al

The Albanian State Police (Albanian : Policia e Shtetit) is the national police and law enforcement agency which operates throughout the Republic of Albania. The collapse of the Communist system and the establishment of political pluralism post-1991 brought important changes to the structure of the Albanian Police. The Ministry of Public Order and the General Directorate of Police were established in April 1991, and the new law of July 1991 established the Public Order Police. Nearly 80% of police manpower, i.e. personnel who had served under the previous system, were replaced by new recruits. On 4 November 1991, the Albanian Police was accepted as a member of Interpol.

Contents

History

The original Albanian Police was founded on 13 January 1913 by the government of Ismail Qemali, Albania's first prime minister. [4]

The crisis of 1997

Following the collapse of the Albanian economy in January–February 1997 in the wake of the implosion of the Ponzi pyramid banking schemes promoted by the government, [5] increasing insurgency in early March led to the Police and Republican Guard deserting en masse because it became clear they were unlikely to be paid, leaving their armouries unlocked, [6] which were promptly looted by parties unknown, believed to mostly have been the local crime bodies and self-appointed militias: many of the weapons eventually surfaced in the ethnic fighting in Kosovo.

Riot police in 1997 in Albania 97-9.jpg
Riot police in 1997 in Albania

The resulting anarchy led a number of nations to use military forces to evacuate citizens, [7] [8] culminating in the UN authorising Operation Alba ("Daybreak"), a short-term military stabilisation force led by the Italian Army, tasked with facilitating the repatriation of foreigners and laying the foundations for another International Organisation to undertake the longer-term restabilisation. The political debate eventually settled in Europe within the body responsible for the defence diplomatic coordination of the Continent, the Council of the Western European Union. In a 2-hour meeting which convened at 1400 hrs on 2 May 1997, [9] the WEU Council decided on the immediate establishment of the Multinational Advisory Police Element, sending a pathfinder officer, a Norwegian Police Colonel, the same evening. The Italian force in Operation Alba predicated the Command structure of MAPE passing into the Italian Carabinieri, General Pietro Pistolese, previously commanding the Genoa region, bringing his team with him. Four phases followed, assessment, reconstruction, support of the Albanian Police control during the Kosovo Crisis, and finally build-down and handback in early 2001, which was somewhat accelerated ahead of the transfer of the WEU's operational responsibilities to the Council of the EU on 30 June 2001. The reconstruction principally involved the reconstruction of the Judicial system and the training of Police, but the Finance section also accommodated economic specialists acting as the principal feedback into the correction of the Judicial system. The Command Team later formed the core of the European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah from 2005 onwards.

Public Perception

Building of the Albanian State Police Headquarters in Tirane Albanian State Police HQ in Tirane.jpg
Building of the Albanian State Police Headquarters in Tiranë

According to a survey produced in 2009 for the United States Agency for International Development Albanian's perception of the police was as follows: [10]

Given that this was within eight years of the departure of the MAPE rebuilding mission, great concern must be expressed about the capacity of the police force to maintain the legal norms required of an aspirant EU State.

Modernization

In 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs started a modernization process of the Albanian police, to modernize its equipment and methods. The first step was the acquisition of new police vans and cruisers, the next one was the installment of body cameras on police officers to improve their service and to be analysed after an operation. Uniforms of the every uniformed department of the Albanian police were overhauled and the logo was also changed.[ citation needed ]

Several operations were held from the years 2014 to 2016, in various criminally active regions of Albania (i.e. Lazarat) to restore confidence and belief of the Albanian public to support the actions of police. Body cameras are becoming an integral part of the Albanian police, used on various drug busts and high-profile operations, released afterwards to the public.[ citation needed ]

Ranks of the State Police

In 2015, the State Police underwent reorganizational reforms which were expected to continue for several years. [11] It implemented a new hierarchical structure composed of nine hierarchic ranks. [12] [13]

DirectorCommissioner
Flamuri i Policise se Shtetit.svgAlbanian Police [12] [13] Grade ceremoniali, Drejtues Madhor (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Drejtues i Larte (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Drejtues i Pare (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Drejtues (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Kryekomisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Komisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Nenkomisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Inspektor (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grade ceremoniali, Kursante (Policia e Shtetit).svg
Grada Drejtues Madhor (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Drejtues i Larte (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Drejtues i Pare (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Drejtues (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Kryekomisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Komisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Nenkomisar (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Inspektor (Policia e Shtetit).svg Grada Kursante (Policia e Shtetit).svg
Chief director
Drejtues Madhor
Senior director
Drejtues i Lartë
First director
Drejtues i Parë
Director
Drejtues
Chief
commissioner
Kryekomisar
Commissioner
Komisar
Sub-
commissioner
Nënkomisar
Inspector
Inspektor
Cadet
Kursantë

Pre-2015 ranks

Rank insignia of the Albanian State Police 1991-2014 [14]
UniformN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
Rank:First Director
Drejtues i Parë
Director
Drejtues
Chief Commissioner
Kryekomisar
Commissioner
Komisar
Lieutenant Commissioner
Komisar toger
Chief Inspector
Kryeinspektor
Inspector
Inspektor
Lieutenant Inspector
Inspektor toger
Chief Assistant
Kryeasistent
First Assistant
Asistent i parë
Assistant
Asistent
First Agent
Agjent i parë
Agent
Agjent

Branches of the State Police

PatchBranch unit
Policia e Rendit.svg
Policia e Rendit
The Order Police is tasked to deal with issues of Public Order, assist and help local population.
Policia Kufitare.svg
Policia Kufitare dhe Migracionit
The Border Police is in charge of migration and border control.
Policia Rrugore.svg
Policia Rrugore
The Road Police administers road safety and Enforces Traffic Regulations.
Forcat e Nderhyrjes se Shpejte.svg
FNSH
The Rapid Intervention Force is the quick intervention unit dealing mostly with cases of violent riots, special operations, etc.
Shqiponjat.svg
Shqiponjat
The Eagles are a rapid intervention unit that handles domestic criminal activities.
RENEA.svg
RENEA
The Department of Neutralization of Armed Elements is the main counter-terrorism and critical incident response unit.
DFPO

Directorate of the Special Operational Force is the main Criminal Police Special Force similar to RENEA.

Albanian State Police equipment

Albanian State Police has much Communist era equipment left in its storage, still in use today. However, since 2014 ASP (Albanian State Police) has been modernizing its uniforms, vehicles and weapons, introducing newer Western equipment to replace their Soviet era equipment.

Uniforms

The Albanian State Police uniforms have undergone several changes since 1991. Some visible changes are:

Weaponry

Since 2017 Government of Albania has been contracting with multiple countries, purchasing brand new weapons to replace their old Communist era weapons.

WeaponOriginStatus
TT-33 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union Semi-Retired from Service
Makarov PM Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union Semi-Retired from Service
Glock 17 Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Beretta 92 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Beretta PX4 Storm Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Beretta APX Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Heckler & Koch MP5 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Heckler & Koch UMP Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Heckler & Koch MP7 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
AKM Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
ASh-82Flag of Albania.svg  Albania Semi-Retired from Service
Beretta ARX 160 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
HS Produkt VHS Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Heckler & Koch HK417 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Sako TRG M10 Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Sako TRG-42 Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
RPK machine gun Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
RPD machine gun Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union

Vehicles

Plenty of vehicles have been bought from the Albanian Government, what is most surprising is the diversity when purchasing vehicles. While many police forces around the world, usually tend to stick with 2-3 car brands in their fleets, Albania has been known to have numerous car brands in their police fleets, with the most popular car brand being Hyundai. Here is a full list of the vehicles used and currently used by Albanian State Police since 2010:

Directors

No.Name
Term in office
1 Halim Gostivari 13 January 191324 May 1913
2 Fehim Mezhgorani 24 May 191330 January 1914
3 Hil Mosi 1 February 191430 March 1914
4 Veli Vasjari 1 April 191430 June 1914
5 Sulejman Kërçiku 2 October 191427 January 1916
Halim Gostivari 28 August 191917 December 1920
6 Ahmet Sinani 17 December 192010 January 1922
Veli Vasjari 11 January 192222 April 1922
Halim Gostivari 22 April 192221 August 1922
7 Musa Çelepia 21 August 192226 December 1922
8 Hamza Isaraj 10 December 192425 December 1924
9 Qazim Bodinaku 24 February 19267 July 1926
10 Rustem Ymeri 20 December 19261927
Hil Mosi 3 September 19281929
11 Zef Kadarja 31 August 194023 March 1942
12 Theodor Stamati 24 March 194226 November 1942
13 Shyqyri Borshi 26 November 19424 June 1943
14 Gjush Deda 4 June 194330 August 1943
15 Kolë Radovani 1 September 194313 October 1943
16 Skënder Selmanaj 15 October 194310 January 1944
17 Tahir Kolgjini 10 January 194424 November 1944
18 Namik Xhafa 24 November 194420 March 1947
19 Lako Polena 24 March 19472 February 1948
20 Sali Ormeni 16 February 19482 March 1951
21 Maqo Çomo 2 March 1951March 1952
22 Delo Balili March 19521 May 1956
23 Xhule Çiraku 1 May 1956February 1968
24 Kasëm Kaso February 1968January 1980
25 Agron Tafa January 1980August 1982
Kasëm Kaso August 198231 December 1984
26 Dilaver Bengasi 1 January 198717 July 1990
27 Pandeli Lluka 17 July 19901 May 1992
28 Astrit Mehaj 1 May 199222 June 1993
29 Sabri Jacaj 22 June 199315 June 1995
30 Agim Shehu 15 June 199530 June 1997
31 Sokol Baraj 3 July 199716 May 1998
32 Besnik Bregu 16 May 19984 September 1998
33 Hasan Ahmetaj 4 September 19989 November 1998
34 Veton Gjoliku 9 November 199820 January 1999
35 Veli Myftari 20 January 199922 November 2000
36 Bilbil Mema 23 November 200019 August 2002
37 Bajram Ibraj 12 September 200230 March 2007
38 Ahmet Prençi 30 March 200728 October 2009
39 Hysni Burgaj 28 October 20099 September 2013
40 Artan Didi 10 October 201331 March 2015
41 Haki Çako 15 April 20158 January 2018
42 Ardi Veliu 5 February 20188 October 2021
43 Gledis Nano 8 October 202131 August 2022
44 Muhamet Rrumbullaku 8 September 20225 September 2024
45 Ilir Proda 2 October 2024Incumbent

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References

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  3. https://top-channel.tv/2024/10/02/ilir-proda-emerohet-drejtori-i-ri-i-policise-se-shtetit-pjese-e-uniformave-blu-qe-prej-vitit-2005/
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  5. "Collapse of the Ponzi schemes 1997". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  6. Albanian Rebellion of 1997#Opening of the depots
  7. Operation Silver Wake
  8. Operation Libelle
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  13. 1 2 Albanian State Police insignia, Albania (2016). Ranks insignia of the Albanian police officers (PDF). Albania: General Directorate of State Police. pp. 5–14, 53. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  14. "Albanian Police". Uniforminsignia.net. 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

See also