The Civil Affairs Police Force (CAPF) was established to maintain peace and security in

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

. The force was set up by the British Military Administration which took over the administration of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

from the

Japanese Imperial Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

when the latter surrendered in August 1945. The establishment of CAPF in September 1945 was an important development in the history of the police force. It was the first time a single, centrally administered police force was set up for the entire British Malaya. Prior to the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945, several police forces existed in the region. The force was led by Commissioner of Police H. B. Longworthy. As an initial step to restore the police force, all existing police officers were sent for intensive training courses at the newly built police training centre in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. By 1946, a total of 1,512 police officers from all over Malaya had completed the Refresher Courses at the training centre. In January 1946, CAPF began accepting new recruits. The first recruitment drive had to reject about 85 per cent of the applicants due to overwhelming response. In the first recruitment of 700 new officers, 500 were trained in Kuala Lumpur while the remaining 200 were trained in

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...

. On 1 April 1946, in line with the establishment of the

Malayan Union The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administratio ...

, the Civil Affairs Police Force was renamed to

Malayan Union Police Force Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

.Malayan Union Police Force
(Malay language)

References

External links

Royal Malaysian Police
(Official site) {{Royal Malaysia Police Force Royal Malaysia Police Defunct law enforcement agencies of Malaysia British Malaya 1945 establishments in British Malaya