Constabulary

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Constabulary may have several definitions.

A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in Britain, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and some still do). See: Law enforcement in the United Kingdom.

A large civil police force organized and trained along military lines, which may contain paramilitary elements. This is the usual definition in places outside of Great Britain (e.g., Royal Irish Constabulary, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Pennsylvania Constabulary, Jamaica Constabulary Force etc.). These were organizationally based on the French Gendarmerie, originally consisting of military personnel seconded to or military veterans recruited directly to the constabulary and later became all civilian forces after they were well established.

The title of a military or paramilitary type force consisting of soldiers trained for police duties^[1] Mostly established by the United States in the several countries over which it had protective status (e.g., Philippine Constabulary, United States Constabulary in West Germany after World War II, Nicaraguan National Guard, Panama National Guard). These forces also performed military functions by maintaining "mobile forces" of organised units. In Europe such forces are called Gendarmeries, Carabinieri (in Italy) or Guardia Civil (in Spain).

[edit] Listing

A partial list of constabularies around the world:

Ireland

Royal Irish Constabulary - Britain's paramilitary police force in Ireland from 1822 - 1922.

Northern Ireland

Royal Ulster Constabulary - Britain's paramilitary police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 - 2001 when it was reformed as the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Ulster Special Constabulary - a reserve police force from 1920 until it was disbanded in 1970.

United States

United States Constabulary - United States Army military gendarmerie force. From 1946 to 1952, in the aftermath of World War II, it acted as an occupation and security force in the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany and Austria.
Arizona Rangers - existed from 1901–1909 and reformed as the auxiliary branch of the Arizona Highway Patrol in 1957
California State Rangers - existed from 1854 - 1887 when it was merged into the California State Police which in turn was merged with the California Highway Patrol in 1995
New Mexico Mounted Police - now called the New Mexico State Police
Massachusetts State Police - very paramilitary in its early years. Now totally demilitarised outside of the training academy.
Pennsylvania Constabulary - now called the Pennsylvania State Police
Puerto Rico Police Department - was created as the paramilitary Puerto Rico Insular Police in 1899, and was demilitarised and renamed as the Puerto Rico Police Department in 1956.

Royal Hong Kong Police Force - Britain's paramilitary police force in Hong Kong from 1844 until the 1997 transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China.
British South Africa Police in Rhodesia.
South African Police of the Apartheid era.
Southwest African Police - paramilitary police force of South African occupied Southwest Africa (now called Namibia) from 1915 - 90.

Other:

Philippine Constabulary - created in 1901 by the American colonial administration. It was demilitarised and merged with the Integrated National Police in 1991 to form the Philippine National Police.

^ Webster defines it as “an armed police force organized on military lines but distinct from the army,” Ergo a gendarmerie.

Segal,David R., Brian J. Reed, and David E. Rohall. “Constabulary Attitudes of National Guard and Regular Soldiers in the U.S. Army.”

Moskos, Charles C., Jr. “UN Peacekeepers: The Constabulary Ethic and Military Professionalism.” Armed Forces & Society, Jul 1975; Vol. 1: pp. 388–401.

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