The National Police of East Timor ( tet, Polísia Nasionál Timór Lorosa'e, pt, Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste) or PNTL is the national

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

force of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

History

The PNTL was established in May 2002 by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, before sovereignty was passed to the new state, with a mandate to provide security and maintain

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

throughout the country, and to enable the rapid development of a credible, professional and impartial police service. Recruitment drives were conducted in early 2000, and basic training commenced on 27 March 2000, under the auspices of the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), ( pt, Administração Transitória das Nações Unidas em Timor Leste), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades long East Timorese cri ...

(UNTAET). On 10 August 2001, the East Timor Police Service was officially established, working alongside CivPol, the United Nations Civilian Police Force. It later changed its name to the Timor-Leste Police Service, before finally adopting its current title of the . It was not until independence, on 20 May 2002, that an agreement was signed outlining the terms and timetable for handing over of full policing duties from CivPol to the PNTL. The PNTL finally assumed responsibility for the whole country on 10 December 2003.

Organization

There are at least three special units within the PNTL: the Police Reserve Unit, formerly the Rapid Deployment Service; the Border Patrol Unit (Unidade de Patrulhamento de Fronteiras, UPF); and the Rapid Intervention Unit, or UIR, modelled after the

Portuguese National Republican Guard The National Republican Guard ( pt, Guarda Nacional Republicana) or GNR is the national gendarmerie force of Portugal. Members of the GNR are military personnel, subject to military law and organisation, unlike the agents of the civilian Publi ...

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...

, which served in East Timor before its independence.

Equipment

Vehicles

Firearms

* :

Glock 19 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

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Heckler & Koch G36 The Heckler & Koch G36 (Gewehr 36) is a 5.56×45mm assault rifle designed in the early 1990s by German weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch as a replacement for the heavier 7.62×51mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the ''Bu ...

* :

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-r ...

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Steyr AUG The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. It was adopted by the Austrian A ...

* : FN FNC Mk2 * :

Heckler & Koch HK33 The Heckler & Koch HK33 is a 5.56mm assault rifle developed in the 1960s by West German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K), primarily for export. Building on the success of their G3 design, the company developed a family of smal ...

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FN F2000 The FN F2000 is a 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup rifle, designed by FN Herstal in Belgium. The F2000 made its debut in March 2001 at the IDEX defence exhibition held in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. As of early 2019, the F2000 is removed fro ...

Controversy

There are accusation that some PNTL officers have tortured prisoners who have been arrested.

Gallery

File:2019-03-27 Day of PNTL 3.jpg, National Police of East Timor officers File:2019-03-27 Day of PNTL 7.jpg, National Police of East Timor officers File:East timor - armoured cars-davidrobie.jpg, Armoured cars of PNTL File:Police station at Bobonaro Village 2016.jpg, Police station at Bobonaro Village

Historical police emblems

POLDA TIMOR-TIMUR.png, Police patch during Indonesian occupation Logo of the United Nations Police.svg, Patch of

United Nations Civilian Police The United Nations Police (UNPOL) is an integral part of the United Nations peace operations. Currently, about 11 530 UN Police officers from over 90 countries are deployed in 11 UN peacekeeping operations and 6 Special PoliticaMissions The ...

in East Timor East Timor Police Service patch 2001.png, Police patch used during United Nations administration PNTLbadge.jpg, Former badge of the post-independence National Police of East Timor

References

External links

Official Website
Law enforcement agencies of East Timor {{law-enforcement-agency-stub