Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron or Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD) in Spanish is a Colombian National Police

riot control Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...

unit specialized on preventing and/or controlling public disturbances and riots, as well controlling vandalism in cities. This unit is under the command of the Operative Directorate of the Colombian National Police.

History

The ''Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios'' (ESMAD) was born as a decentralized unit from the Colombian National Police on February 24, 1999, by a transitional directorate, beginning with 9 officers, 8 non-commissioned officers and 200 patrollers mainly to support Colombian Departments and Metropolitan police forces to control and/or neutralize population disturbances or public events when their forces seem outnumbered or incapable to handle their action capacity. It was later legalized by resolution 01363 of April 14, 1999. The unit is said to be trained on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

issues however in 2006, it was largely criticized and questioned for some of its actions during the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

riots. This riot police unit was also questioned by the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

after the death of six protesters. Nonetheless, the Colombian government continues to invest money in this unit. Senator Wilson Arias denounced the investment of around 8,000 million pesos. In the midst of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

health emergency, the Colombian government prefers to invest in a force that has injured more than 800 people and from which 43 victims have been confirmed before 2021.

Regional Operational Divisions

There are seven active mobile squadrons operating in Colombia: *

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

: Mobile Group I, Mobile Group II, Mobile Group III *

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

: Mobile Group IV *

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

: Mobile Group V *

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

: Mobile Group VI *

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander Department, Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and is the ninth most populous city i ...

: Mobile Group VII

References

External links

EL TIEMPO newspaper

Policia Nacional de Colombia
* {{Cite web, url=https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/nicolas-guerrero-el-joven-asesinado-en-medio-de-las-protestas-en-el-norte-de-cali/202134/, title = Nicolás Guerrero, el joven asesinado en medio de las protestas en el norte de Cali, date = May 3, 2021 Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron