The Military Gendarmerie (, ŻW) is a

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

force established in 1990 in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

as a specialized service of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...

. The exact role of the gendarmerie has been historically difficult to ascertain, with several changes and developments since the fall of communism. Prior to the abandonment of conscription in 2009, the ZW was primarily concerned with the conscription efforts of the

and chasing down avoiders, however the unit returned to traditional military policing after this with a confusing hiatus of their public role and deployment for 10 years with ad-hoc deployment at the government's will. Since the coronavirus pandemic however, ZW has taken an increasingly public role in society. In further confusion, in 2021 the Gendarmerie was demoted from a full service branch of the

, instead being classified as an "other" unit, alongside the Inspectorate of Armed Forces Support (logistics unit), the Warsaw Garrison (various representational and ceremonial duties in the capital), as well as the Operational Command and General Staff which are the main decisional organs in the chain of command. As of 2022, the unit also has a Criminal Directorate acting as an intelligence gathering unit for cybersecurity purposes.

History

The Polish Military Gendarmerie is a

force that traces its history to the communist-era Military Internal Service (),

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era Service for Protection of the Uprising (), interwar-era military police in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, formations of the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

and

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

and finally, some officials of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, first created in early 17th century. The modern Polish Military Gendarmerie was formed on 1 September 1990 on the basis of order No. Pf-42 / Org. Minister of National Defense of 18 April 1990 and order No. 062 / Org. Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army of 15 June 1990. At this formation the structure was as follows: * Headquarters of the Military Police in Warsaw * Military Police Command: ** Warsaw Military District ** Pomeranian Military District ** Silesian Military District In addition, the following Military Gendarmerie Departments were established:

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, and also the Military Gendarmerie Training Center in

Mińsk Mazowiecki Mińsk Mazowiecki (, ) is a town in eastern Poland with 40,999 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship and is a part of the Warsaw metropolitan area. It is the capital of Mińsk County. Located 20 kilometers from the city li ...

. In August 2001,

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

(lower house of

parliament of Poland The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does ...

) passed Act on the Military Gendarmerie and other law enforcement authorities which specify tasks and authorities of the Military Gendarmerie. In 2007, the Military Gendarmerie was granted partner status to the

European Gendarmerie Force The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) is a European rapid reaction force composed of elements of several European police and gendarmerie forces. EUROGENDFOR is tasked with performing policing tasks within the scope of crisis management ope ...

, and since 2015 become a full member.

Role in civilian policing

In October 2020, the Military Gendarmerie were ordered to help the civilian police in the "protection of safety and

public order Public order may refer to * Public security: the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger or property damage * Public order policing: police maintenance of order ...

", starting from 28 October 2020. The order was given in the context of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Poland The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland was a part of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus. , Poland had a cumulative total of 6,775,116 confirmed cases (17,849 per 100,000 population), and 120,976 deaths (31 ...

. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the ZW has taken an increasingly public and pervasive role in the policing of society, often supplementing or fully overtaking the traditional roles of the national

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force. Among other notable role changes and developments in the last two years, the ZW has overtaken all duties on patrolling the highways and national roads to inspect the goods of large trucks and their roadworthiness, and for the first time arrest powers were extended to the ZW when dealing with truck drivers who carry unregistered arms, drugs or illegal immigrants which fall out of the jurisdiction zones of the border force. In urban areas, local ZW units have been signposted to augment the local police in carrying out pedestrianised patrols and fining drivers who do not follow pedestrian-priority road laws. It also appears that ZW has begun to augment the police and fire services in search operations – ZW equipment and personnel have begun to be deployed to search for missing persons. In the past, ZW units have been regularly deployed for this purpose to search for deserters and conscription-avoiders and much experience remains in this area. Most visibly to the public eye however is the expansion of use of ZW units in protection of public events and gatherings. ZW units have been increasingly regularly deployed to supplement or overtake the roles of the national police in overseeing public events, gatherings and sports events. Notably however, they have been excluded from protests (from which they are constitutionally banned) and VIP/government protection (unlike other Gendarmerie forces in Spain and France, however, in Poland this role is undertaken by the SOP).

Structure

The ''ŻW'' is organized into: * Headquarters * 3 special units * 10 units * 2 departments * 45 regional stations

Commanders

The current commander is gen. dyw. Tomasz Połuch. * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General)

Jerzy Jarosz Jerzy Jarosz (born 3 November 1950) is a Polish anesthesiologist, and palliative medicine specialist. He also specializes in pain management, bioethics and medical cannabis. In 1989, he founded - the second in Poland - oncological hospice. H ...

(1 IX 1990 – 20 II 1992) * Płk dypl. (Certified Officer) Henryk Piątkowski (11 III 1992 – 1 IV 1993) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Alfons Kupis (1 IV 1993 – 24 VII 2000) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jerzy Słowiński (1 VIII 2000 – 30 VII 2003) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Bogusław Pacek (31 VII 2003 – 3 X 2006) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General)

Jan Żukowski Jan Żukowski (born 8 November 1947 in Olsztyn) is a Polish sprint canoer who competed in the early 1970s. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the C-2 1000 m event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Munich is the capital and mo ...

(3 X 2006 – 1 I 2008) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Marek Witczak (2 I 2008 – 17 XII 2010) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Mirosław Rozmus (17 XII 2010 - 11 VI 2015) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Piotr Nidecki (12 VI 2015 - 24 XII 2015) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Tomasz Połuch (24 XII 2015 -)

Ranks

;Officers ;Enlisted

Equipment

Infantry weapons

Vehicles

Members who have died in service

Soldiers of the Military Police died during their official duties: * Starszy kapral Krzysztof Sypień from the Military Gendarmerie Department in Kraków, † 11 VIII 2002 Kraków, posthumously promoted to platoon-leader. * Starszy szeregowy Grzegorz Bukowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 15 June 2010 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

. * Starszy szeregowy Marcin Pastusiak from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 22 January 2011 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. * Starszy szeregowy Tomasz Janowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Gdynia, † 29 March 2016 Iraq, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Military of Poland 1990 establishments in Poland Military police agencies of Poland