The Military Gendarmerie ( pl, Żandarmeria Wojskowa, abbreviated ''ŻW'') is a

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

force established in 1990 in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

as a specialized service of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

History

The Polish Military Gendarmerie is a

force that traces its history to the communist-era Military Internal Service (),

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era Service for Protection of the Uprising (), interwar-era military police in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

, formations of the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

and finally, some officials of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, first created in early 17th century. The modern Polish Military Gendarmerie was formed on 1 September 1990 on the basis of order No. Pf-42 / Org. Minister of National Defense of 18 April 1990 and order No. 062 / Org. Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army of 15 June 1990. At this formation the structure was as follows: * Headquarters of the Military Police in Warsaw * Military Police Command: ** Warsaw Military District ** Pomeranian Military District ** Silesian Military District In addition, the following Military Gendarmerie Departments were established:

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Krakow,

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, and also the Military Gendarmerie Training Center in

Mińsk Mazowiecki Mińsk Mazowiecki () "''Masovian Minsk''") is a town in eastern Poland with 40,999 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999) and is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is the capital of Mińsk County. Locate ...

. In August 2001,

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

(lower house of

parliament of Poland The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the ''Sejm'' complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not ref ...

) passed Act on the Military Gendarmerie and other law enforcement authorities which specify tasks and authorities of the Military Gendarmerie. In 2007, the Military Gendarmerie was granted partner status to the

European Gendarmerie Force The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) is an operational, pre-organised, and rapidly deployable intervention force, exclusively comprising elements of several European police forces with military status of the Parties in order to perform all ...

, and since 2015 become a full member.

Role in civilian policing

In October 2020, the Military Gendarmerie were ordered to help the civilian police in the "protection of safety and

public order In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...

", starting from 28 October 2020. The order was given in the context of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Poland The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). In February and March 2020, health authorities in Poland carried out laborat ...

Structure

The ''ŻW'' is organized into: * Headquarters * 3 special units * 10 units * 2 departments * 45 regional stations

Commanders

The current commander is gen. dyw. Tomasz Połuch. * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Jerzy Jarosz (1 IX 1990 – 20 II 1992) * Płk dypl. (Certified Officer) Henryk Piątkowski (11 III 1992 – 1 IV 1993) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Alfons Kupis (1 IV 1993 – 24 VII 2000) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jerzy Słowiński (1 VIII 2000 – 30 VII 2003) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Bogusław Pacek (31 VII 2003 – 3 X 2006) * gen. dyw. (Divisional General)

Jan Żukowski Jan Żukowski (born 8 November 1947 in Olsztyn) is a Polish sprint canoer who competed in the early 1970s. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the C-2 1000 m event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; ...

(3 X 2006 – 1 I 2008) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Marek Witczak (2 I 2008 – 17 XII 2010) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Mirosław Rozmus (17 XII 2010 - 11 VI 2015) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Piotr Nidecki (12 VI 2015 - 24 XII 2015) * gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Tomasz Połuch (24 XII 2015 -)

Ranks

;Officers ;Enlisted

Equipment

Infantry weapons

Vehicles

Members who have died in service

Soldiers of the Military Police died during their official duties: * Starszy kapral Krzysztof Sypień from the Military Gendarmerie Department in Krakow, † 11 VIII 2002 Krakow, posthumously promoted to Plutonowy. * Starszy szeregowy Grzegorz Bukowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 15 June 2010 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Kapral. * Starszy szeregowy Marcin Pastusiak from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 22 January 2011 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sierżant. * Starszy szeregowy Tomasz Janowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Gdynia, † 29 March 2016 Iraq, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sierżant.

References

External links

* Military of Poland 1990 establishments in Poland Military police agencies of Poland

{{Poland-mil-stub