Law enforcement in North Macedonia is the responsibility of the Police of the Republic of North Macedonia (). The police headquarters are located in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also maintain an air base in nearby Idrizovo. Taiwan, Canada, and Italy have all contributed Bell Helicopter Textron helicopters to the police force's Macedonian Police Aviation Unit in cooperation with the Air Force of North Macedonia to help combat insurgencies the country. The law enforcement agencies of North Macedonia are regulated by the Constitution of 1991, the Law on Internal Affairs of 1995, the Criminal Procedure Code of 1997 and the Draft Law on Changes and Additions to the Criminal Procedure Code. With police actions and behavior controlled by the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Law on Internal Affairs controlling the use of firearms by the police force. On July 1, 2003, the Law on the Police Academy was enacted, creating a police academy to train civil and border police officers. The force has been the subject of a number of recent reforms regarding both the Albanian insurgency,BBC New
article
retrieved on May 14, 2007 and possible violations of

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 ...

, with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

officials stating that the force was "not really up to European standards" as policemen lacked in skills and weapons.''MACEDONIA Police Violence in Macedonia'' Human Rights Watc
report
retrieved on May 14, 2007

History

The Police were subject to scrutiny during Albanian riots on 9 July 1997 when protesters collected in the western town of

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

. Over 200 were wounded and three killed (two shot, one beaten to death) in a resulting clash with police riot squads, and the Humans Rights Watch investigated allegations of police brutality. These events underlined a continuing friction between the Macedonian Police force and Albanians living in North Macedonia. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights reported that police abuse of suspects, particularly during initial arrest and detention, and police harassment of ethnic minorities is ongoing.Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 (MHC)
The Police of North Macedonia work closely with the NATO peacekeepers in patrolling areas with high numbers of ethnic Albanians ever since the 2001 Macedonia conflict ended, and have been receiving weapons from surrendering Albanian insurgents. Violent attacks, however, still occur as in 2001 three officers were killed by Albanian gunmen. A notable incident was when the Macedonian Police arrested a

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

in 2009 used by a crime smuggling ring to smuggle air conditioners from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. At that time the Police were not sure whether to press charges or not, but ultimately decided to not press charges against the Horse. On the 2nd of December, 2022, during a routine traffic stop, а driver was asked to show his documents, to which the driver didn't comply and proceeded to call an armed group. Said group proceeded to chase the police officers out of

Aračinovo Aračinovo ( , ) is a village and seat of the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Aračinovo Municipality, Aračinovo, North Macedonia. History During the 2001 Macedonia conflict, it was occupied by ethnic Albanian insurgents. De ...

and into the Gazi Baba police station.

Organization

Border Police A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Federal Police (Germany), Germany, Guardia di Finanza, Italy or State Border Guar ...

* Lake Patrol Police *

Traffic Police Traffic police (also known as traffic officers, traffic enforcement units, traffic cops, traffic monitors, or traffic enforcers) are units and Law enforcement agency, agencies who enforce Traffic#Rules of the road, traffic laws and Road traffic ...

* Helicopter unit

Special Police

* Special Operations Unit - Tigers * Rapid Deployment Unit * Special Support Unit * Unit for First Response and Intervention - Alpha

Former special police unit

* Lions police tactical unit

Equipment

Vehicles

Former Vehicles

Dogs

Small Arms

Gallery

File:Macedonia Police license plates front and rear Полиција 001-001.jpg, Pre-2019 licence plates of the Macedonian Police File:License plate Macedonia police front.JPG, License plate on the front of Macedonian Police vehicles File:License plate Macedonia police back.JPG, License plate on the back of Macedonian Police vehicles File:Radusha_Police_in_2001.jpg, Police in v. Radusha in 2001 File:Juli2001Matejce.jpg, Special units Tigers and Lions in 2001 File:Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png, Pre-2019 Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police

References

{{Europe topic, Law enforcement in Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia