The Police Force (, PZ), commonly known as Slovak Republic Police (), is the national

police force The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizen ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Governed by the

Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic () is a government ministry of Slovakia. Since 25 October 2023, the current minister is Matúš Šutaj Eštok. From 15 May 2023 until 25 October 2023 the Minister of the Interior has been Ivan Šimk ...

, the Police Corps is part of and extremely active in both

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

and

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. Along with serving in Slovakia, the Police Corps along with the Customs Administration of the Slovak Republic has been active in neighboring

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an countries as well, including

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

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 ...

History

The independent police force in Slovakia was established on 1 March 1991 under the name of Police Corps of the Slovak Republic () by renaming the Slovak part of the

Public Security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

(). After the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...

in the end of 1992, the agency was renamed to Police Corps () in effect from 1 September 1993. However, in its logo, the old name is still being used.

Equipment

Vehicles

Mounted Police Slovakia 1 20180620 Version 2

The Police Corps operated the following fleet of vehicles: *

Toyota RAV4 The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is known for starting the wave of compact crossovers. The RAV4 is one of the best-selling SUVs of all time. By February 2020, a total of 10 million RAV4 ...

Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of D-segment, large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar ...

Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplate ...

Volkswagen Touareg The Volkswagen Touareg (German pronunciation: ) is a Luxury car, mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by Volkswagen since 2002. The vehicle is named after the nomadic Tuareg people, inhabitants of the Sahara desert, Saharan interior in North A ...

Kia Sportage The Kia Sportage () is a series of automobiles manufactured by the South Korean manufacturer Kia since 1993 through five generations. Initially a compact SUV built on a body-on-frame chassis, the second-generation Sportage transitioned to a ca ...

Kia Ceed The Kia Ceed (known as the Kia Cee'd before 2018) is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the South Korean manufacturer Kia since 2006 exclusively for the European market. It is the first Kia vehicle to be designed entirely in ...

Nissan X-Trail The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2000. Since 2018, it is positioned between the Qashqai and the larger Murano. Since the third-generation model, the X-Trail became the same vehicle as the North ...

T31/T32 *

SEAT León The SEAT León (), also spelled Leon in some other languages (named after the city of León, Spain, León, which also means "Lion" in Spanish), is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since October 1999.ETKA The first ...

Škoda Fabia The Škoda Fabia is a series of passenger cars produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It is the successor of the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001. The Fabia was available in hatchback, estate (named Fabia Combi) ...

* Lada Vesta *

GAZ Tigr The Tigr () is a Russian Four-wheel drive, 4×4 multipurpose all-terrain infantry mobility vehicle manufactured by Military Industrial Company, first delivered to the Russian Ground Forces, Russian Army in 2006. Primarily used by the Russian Arm ...

Weapons

Uniform

Typical Slovak police uniforms consist of a black or dark green

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

. The vest, shirt or jacket will have ''Polícia'' scripted on the reverse. A tactical belt and black slacks follow. Black combat boots or shoes depending on region or rank. Weather also plays a key role, officers typically opt for short sleeves in summer and spring and long sleeve or jackets during the winter months. Uniforms are typically unisex and do not vary from male to female.

Branches

Branches within include: * Organized Crime Bureau * Judicial and Criminal Police Bureau and the Border and Foreigner Police Bureau *

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 ...

Railway Police Railroad police or railway police are people responsible for the protection of Rail transport, railroad (or railway) properties, facilities, revenue, equipment (train cars and locomotives), and personnel, as well as carried passengers and cargo. R ...

* Riot Railway Police * Financial Police *

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 officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

** Police Emergency Units of Riot Police departments of the Regional Police Headquarters of the Police Force (Slovak: Pohotovostné policajné útvary OPP KR PZ) ** Special protection department of the Office for protection of state officials and diplomatic missions (Slovak: Odbor špeciálnej ochrany Úradu pre ochranu ústavných činiteľov a diplomatických misií MV SR) * Criminal Police * Border and Foreigner Police * Toll Police

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Law enforcement in Slovakia Law enforcement agencies in Europe National police forces