The Gambia Police Force

Last updated
Gambia Police Force
AbbreviationGPF
Agency overview
Formed1965
Preceding agencies
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
(Operations jurisdiction)
The Gambia
Operations jurisdiction The Gambia
Size10,689 square kilometres (4,127 sq mi)
Population1,882,450
Legal jurisdiction The Gambia
Governing body Minister of the Interior
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersGPF Headquarters, Ecowas Drive
Sworn members5,000
Elected officer responsible
  • Ebrima Mballow, Minister of the Interior
Agency executive
  • Abdoulie Sanyang, Inspector General of Police

The Gambia Police Force is the primary independent domestic intelligence, security and law enforcement agency in The Gambia. Under the Ministry of the Interior, the force is headed by an inspector general of police. The current size of the force is 5,000 uniformed and plain-clothed officers. The Gambia Police Force deals with corruption via a specialized fraud and commercial crimes unit.

Contents

History

Colonial Gambian police cap badge. BADGE - Gambia - Gambia Police cap badge (British era pre 1965 (8136632781).jpg
Colonial Gambian police cap badge.

The first police force in The Gambia was the Gambia River Police, formed in 1855. Prior to this, security in the small colonial enclaves was provided by British troops and a small local militia, drawn from traders, freed slaves, and other settlers. The River Police's role was to control smuggling, enforce taxation, and prevent insurgencies. Its 10 men were aided by the local militia, and were further reinforced in 1866 by the establishment of the paramilitary Gambia Constabulary. Initially formed with 40 constables, this was increased to 100 in 1870. At this point, all imperial troops were withdrawn from the colony and policing was left to the Constabulary and local militia. [1] [2]

A Frontier Police force was founded in 1895. The establishment of the West African Frontier Force in 1900 led to the creation of the Gambia Company in 1901, which also aided in maintaining the colony's security. In the Protectorate, security was the responsibility of the district chief. In 1909, the British issued an ordinance granting the chiefs to appoint 'badge messengers', who were allowed to keep the peace and had all the same authority of the colony police. Francis has noted how "Although Gambians staffed the lower level of the force, to the local population, the police and security services, limited as they were, represented an essentially foreign presence." [1] [2]

At independence in 1965, the Constabulary and Frontier Police merged to create the Gambia Police Force. Following the Gambia Regiment being disbanded in 1958, the police took on all defence responsibilities. A 200-man paramilitary force, the Gambia Field Force, which was part of the police after 1958, maintained responsibility for internal security. [1]

Serekunda Police Station. Serekunda Police Station, Gambia (17433726212).jpg
Serekunda Police Station.

Operations

The GPF has a Sea Police Patrol Unit as well as a small Air Force, which is not yet operational. [3]

Training

The GPF operates the Gambia Police Force Peacekeeping Center (GPFPC), which cooperates with the Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI) in training peacekeepers. [4]

International cooperation

Gambia Police Force has been part of Interpol since 6 October 1986. The Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) for The Gambia is located in the GPF headquarters in Banjul. It is headed by a Commissioner who is assisted by an Assistant Superintendent of Police. Responsibilities of the NCB in The Gambia include human trafficking, terrorism, financial crime, fugitives, stolen works of art, and others. [5]

List of Inspectors General

NamePrevious roleEntered officeLeft office
Ensa Badjie The Inspector General of Police20082 March 2010
Yankuba Sonko The Inspector General of Police2 March 201027 November 2014
Benjamin Wilson The Inspector General of Police27 November 201413 July 2015
Yankuba Sonko The Inspector General of Police13 July 201522 June 2017
Landing Kinteh The Inspector General of Police22 June 201721 June 2018
Momour Jobe The Inspector General of Police9 July 201813 March 2021 [6]
Abdoulie SanyangThe Inspector General of Police8 April 2021 [7]

Related Research Articles

The New Zealand Defence Force is the three-branched military of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, promoting its interests, safeguarding peace and security, as well as supporting peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. It consists of three services: the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), as well as 'tri-service' components. As of June 2023, the NZDF has a strength of 14,996 employees, consisting of 8,669 regular force personnel, 3,260 reserve force personnel and 3,067 civilian members. It is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence (MOD) and is commanded by the Chief of Defence Force (CDF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambia Armed Forces</span> Combined military forces of Gambia

The Gambia Armed Forces, also known as the Armed Forces of The Gambia, consists of three branches: the Gambia National Army (GNA), the Gambia Navy, and the Republican National Guard (RNG). It formerly included the Gambia National Gendarmerie (GNG) from the 1980s to 1996, when they were moved under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The commander-in-chief is the president of the Gambia who is currently Adama Barrow, whereas practical control is exercised by the Chief of the Defence Staff who is currently Lieutenant General Yankuba Drammeh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gendarmerie</span> Military force also tasked with law enforcement among the civilian population

A gendarmerie is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term gendarme is derived from the medieval French expression gens d'armes, which translates to "men-at-arms". In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory, with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions adopted a gendarmerie after independence. A similar concept exists in Eastern Europe in the form of Internal Troops, which are present in many countries of the former Soviet Union and its former allied countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief constable</span> Police officer rank in the United Kingdom

Chief Constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police, and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The title is also held by the chief officers of the principal Crown Dependency police forces and the Sovereign Base Areas Police in Cyprus. The title was also held, ex officio, by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers under the Police Reform Act 2002. It was also the title of the chief officer of the Royal Parks Constabulary until this agency was disbanded in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border guard</span> Government service concerned with security of national borders

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Columbia Provincial Police</span>

The British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) was the provincial police service of British Columbia, Canada, between 1858 and 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated National Police</span> Defunct police force in the Philippines

The Integrated National Police (INP) was the municipal police force for the cities and large towns of the Republic of the Philippines. One of two national police forces in the country along with the Philippine Constabulary, it merged with the latter in 1991 to form the present Philippine National Police.

Law enforcement in Pakistan is one of the three main components of the criminal justice system of Pakistan, alongside the judiciary and the prisons. The country has a mix of federal, provincial and territorial police forces with both general and specialised functions, but the senior ranks of all the provincial forces and most of the federal ones are manned by members of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP). The PSP is one of the most prestigious part of the Central Superior Services, Pakistan's main civil service organisation. Federal law enforcement agencies are generally overseen by the Ministry of Interior of the Government of Pakistan, while provincial police forces are overseen by a department of the government of that province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontier Corps</span> Pakistani paramilitary force

The Frontier Corps, are a group of four paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's borders with Afghanistan and Iran. There are four Frontier Corps: FC KPK (North) and FC KPK (South) stationed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and FC Balochistan (North) and FC Balochistan (South) stationed in Balochistan province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Police of Armenia</span> National police of Armenia

The Police of the Republic of Armenia is the national police of Armenia.

Law enforcement in Mali is the responsibility of the National Police Force, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Security and Civil Protection. The National Police Force shares responsibility for internal security with the Gendarmerie, a paramilitary organization; the police are responsible exclusively for urban areas, while the Gendarmerie's primary responsibility is for rural areas, though it may also reinforce the police when needed. According to The Wall Street Journal, each organization has approximately 5,000 personnel, while Interpol gives a figure of over 7,000 for the police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Ethiopia</span> Government agencies for criminal activities in Ethiopia

Law enforcement in Ethiopia is dealt with by the Ethiopian Federal Police at federal level and by regional police commissions in the Regions of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP) was established in 1995 to serve the public, to ensure the observation of human and democratic rights and to maintain the safety and welfare of the public. Its stated duties are the enforcement of laws and safeguarding constitutional guarantees, the prevention, detection and investigation of crime, the coordination of national state police commissions and development of national policing standards. The EFP also has to provide operational support to regional police commissions.
However, local militias also provide local security largely independent of the police and the Ethiopian military. Corruption is a perennial problem, particularly among traffic police who solicited bribes.
The U.S. Department of State states that its contacts within the Ethiopian government report that the findings of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as arbitrary detentions and beatings of civilians, are rarely made public. However, the Ethiopian government continued its efforts to train police and army recruits in human rights. During 2008 the government was seeking assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the local non-governmental organization Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-PFE), and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to improve and professionalize its human rights training and curriculum. The JFA-PFE provided human rights training for police commissioners and members of the militia in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Leone Police</span>

The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) is the national police force of the Republic of Sierra Leone. It is primarily responsible for law enforcement and crime investigation throughout Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Police is under the jurisdiction of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Internal Affairs, a cabinet ministry in the Government of Sierra Leone.

A field force in British and Indian Army military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances, usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but can have a different meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontier Constabulary</span> Federal paramilitary force of Pakistan

The Frontier Constabulary is a federal paramilitary force of Pakistan under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, which is largely drawn from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but operates in several districts of Pakistan. It is responsible for maintaining law and order, and dealing with situations beyond the capabilities of the civilian Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police. It also guards against tribal incursions, criminal gangs, and contraband smuggling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Internal Affairs (Azerbaijan)</span>

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan is an Azerbaijani government ministry for internal affairs, which is responsible for keeping the order, security and safety of population, officials, buildings and structures in the country. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan is appointed and removed from the post by the Commander-in-chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the President of Azerbaijan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special constable</span> Auxiliary or specialized law enforcement officer

A special constable or special police constable can refer to an auxiliary or part-time law enforcement officer or a person who is granted certain (special) police powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambia Constabulary</span>

The Gambia Constabulary, also known as the Gambia Police, was the colonial police force of The Gambia, in existence from 1866 to 1965. The constabulary has been described as paramilitary, and the colonial authorities themselves described it as "semi-military". The constabulary for a period also had responsibility for firefighting during the colonial reign.

The Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) (Urdu: فرنٹیئر کور خیبر پختونخواہ (شمالی), reporting name: FCKP(N)), is a federal paramilitary force in Pakistan, operating in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, overseeing the country's borders with Afghanistan and assisting with maintaining law and order. It is one of four Frontier Corps with the others being: FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South) stationed in the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and FC Balochistan (North) and FC Balochistan (South) stationed in Balochistan province.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrade, John (1985). World Police and Paramilitary Forces. Basingstoke: Macmillan. p. 75.
  2. 1 2 Davidheiser, Mark; Hultin, Niklas (2012). Francis, David (ed.). Policing in Africa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 125–127.
  3. "Gambia Police Force". Access Gambia. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  4. "Gambia Police Force Peacekeeping Center". Peace Operations Training Institute. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  5. "The Gambia Police Force (GPF)". Interpol. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  6. Cham, Pa Modou (15 March 2021). "Police chief Mamour Jobe laid to rest". thepoint.gm. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  7. "New IGP appointed - The Point". thepoint.gm. Retrieved 2021-12-07.