The Botswana Police Service is the

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 ...

service of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and it is a part of Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security. The force has 9,500 police officers.

History

Colonial era

The service has its origins in the ''Bechuanaland Mounted Police'', which was formed on 1 July 1884. The ''Bechuanaland Border Police'' were formed on 4 Aug 1885. In October 1889 a royal charter established the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

's Police, which absorbed part of the BBP. During the 1890s the various police forces in the area went through a number of name changes until BSAP No.1 (Bechuanaland) Division ceased to exist, becoming the Bechuanaland Protectorate Police. This force recruited few Bechuanaland natives, instead it mostly recruited black constables in

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...

(modern

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(modern

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

) and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Post-Independence

In 1965 following the independence of Botswana the ''Botswana Police Force'', was formed and in 1971 the first female police constables were recruited. In 1977 in a reversal of earlier policy and in response to growing threats to Botswana's security, the

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, ) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 Panther airboats and 2 ...

was formed. In 2009 the Botswana police force subsumed the Botswana local police to create the ''Botswana Police Service''. The modern Botswana police service is an armed police service of 8500 officers, including 2000 female officers . Botswana Police Service runs a police college near Otse village.

Gallery

File:Bechuanaland Protectorate Police 1.jpg File:Bechuanaland Protectorate Police 4.jpg File:Bechuanaland Protectorate Police 6.jpg File:Bechuanaland Protectorate Police 5.jpg

Structure

Divisions

The force is divided into 5 divisions: * Northern * North Central * Northwest * Southern * South Central

Ranks

* Commissioner of Police, * Deputy Commissioner of Police, * Senior Assistant Commissioner, * Assistant Commissioner, * Senior Superintendent, * Superintendent, * Assistant Superintendent, * Inspector, * Sub-Inspector, * Sergeant, * Constable, * Special Constable

Branches and Divisions

The BPS is divided into various branches and the most notable are: * Special Support Group (SSG) Shabani, Thamani (April 26, 2023) "Police Service to Establish Stock Theft Division." Daily Botswana News. https://dailynews.gov.bw/news-detail/72760 * Air Support Branch (ASB) * Transport and Telecommunications Branch (TTB) * Anti-Stock Theft Unit * Training Branch * Crime Intelligence Branch(CRIB)- Detective Superintendent Pensy Thulaganyo Moremedi is the founding member of CRIB. * Criminal Investigation Department (CID) The SSG is the paramilitary branch of the BPS and it is run along military lines. Police officers in this branch are called operatives and they undergo 3 months military training upon completion of the mandatory 12 months Police training. The branch is divided into various units/companies: * SWAT Unit * Anti Poaching Unit (APU) * Band Wing Unit (BND) * City Police Unit (CPU) * Training Wing Unit (TRG) * Specialized Unit (SPU) * Command and Logistics Unit * 44CES * A Company (A Coy) * B Company (B Coy) * C Company (C Coy)

References

External links

Official websiteHistory of the Botswana Police Service - Government of Botswana website
{{Authority control Law enforcement in Botswana Government agencies of Botswana