The Mobile

Carabinier A carabinier (also sometimes spelled carabineer or carbineer) is in principle a soldier armed with a carbine, musket, or rifle, which became commonplace by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The word is derived from the identical F ...

Squadrons (''Escuadrones Móviles de Carabineros'' in Spanish) (EMCAR) are specialised units of the

Colombian National Police The National Police of Colombia () is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Aerospace Force), it constitutes along with them the " ...

, part of its Directorate of Carabineers and Rural Security (Dirección de Carabineros y Seguridad Rural or DICAR). The mission of these mobile squadrons is to provide highway security, control traffic and prevent accidents. Among their objectives is to interact and socialize with civilians to create

neighborhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

and collaboration.

History

Implemented during the presidency of

Álvaro Uribe Vélez Álvaro or Álvar (, , ) is a Spanish language, Spanish, Galician language, Galician and Portuguese language, Portuguese male given name and surname of Germanic Visigothic origin. The patronymic surname derived from this name is Álvarez (surname), ...

(2002 - 2010), this unit was intended to support the democratic security plan, whose main objective was to restore order and establish police presence in lawless towns and rural areas. They were a special rural police force that carried out counterinsurgency missions, frequently in conjunction with army units. Headquartered at the department and national territory capitals, the Carabineros were maintained in squadrons that were separate from those of the regular police; they wore distinctive uniforms and often traveled as mounted and/or motorized units.

Unit organization

The EMCAR were initially organized into 62 Mobile Squadrons of 150 Carabiniers each between 2002 and 2006. Each Carabinier Mobile Squadron is usually composed of four National Police Officers, 12 non-commissioned officers and 134 patrolmen or agents.

External links

Carabineros Official Site
Mobile Carabinier Squadrons {{Colombia-stub es:Escuadrones Móviles de Carabineros (EMCAR)