Constabulary
Appearance
Constabulary may have several definitions:
- A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and some still do). Constables also exist in the U.S. states including Texas.
- Canada's federal police force known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP also call their officers of a particular rank 'Constable'
- A large civil police force organized and trained along military lines, which may contain paramilitary elements. This is the usual definition in places outside Great Britain such as the Royal Irish Constabulary, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Jamaica Constabulary Force.
- A military or paramilitary type force consisting of soldiers trained for police duties. 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. These forces also performed military functions by maintaining "mobile forces" of organised units.
Current UK constabularies
- Avon and Somerset Constabulary
- Belfast International Airport Constabulary
- Cambridgeshire Constabulary
- Cheshire Constabulary
- Civil Nuclear Constabulary
- Derbyshire Constabulary
- Devon and Cornwall Constabulary
- Hampshire Constabulary
- Lancashire Constabulary
- Haverring Parks Constabulary
Historic constabularies
- Philippines
- 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.
- Ireland
- Royal Irish Constabulary – The United Kingdom's paramilitary police force of Ireland from 1822–1922.
- Northern Ireland
- Royal Ulster Constabulary – The United Kingdoms'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.
- Free City of Danzig
- Free City of Danzig Police - The law enforcement agency of the semi-autonomous Free City of Danzig from 1919 - 1945.
- 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.
- Pennsylvania Constabulary – now called the Pennsylvania State Police
- Malaysia
- Sarawak Constabulary -The paramilitary police force of Sarawak from 1800s to 1963 where it was officially incorporated into Royal Malaysia Police shortly after the formation of Malaysia.
Further reading
- Segal, David R., Brian J. Reed, and David E. Rohall. “Constabulary Attitudes of National Guard and Regular Soldiers in the U.S. Army.” Armed Forces & Society, Jul 1998; Vol. 24: pp. 535–548. http://afs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/4/535
- Moskos, Charles C., Jr. “UN Peacekeepers: The Constabulary Ethic and Military Professionalism.” Armed Forces & Society, Jul 1975; Vol. 1: pp. 388–401.