Law enforcement in North Macedonia is the responsibility of the
Police of the Republic of North Macedonia (, ''Policija na Republika Severna Makedonija'').
The police headquarters are located in
Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Sk ...
at the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
, and also maintain an air base in nearby Idrizovo. Taiwan, Canada, and Italy have all contributed
Bell Helicopter Textron
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in ...
helicopters to the police force's Macedonian Police Aviation Unit in cooperation with the
Air Force of North Macedonia
The North Macedonia Air Brigade ( mk, Воздухопловен ВИНГ) is the air warfare and air defense force of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia.
History
The development of the Macedonian Air Brigade began in 1992.
The UTVA- ...
to help combat insurgencies the country.
The law enforcement agencies of North Macedonia are regulated by the Constitution of 1991, the Law on Internal Affairs of 1995, the Criminal Procedure Code of 1997 and the Draft Law on Changes and Additions to the Criminal Procedure Code. With police actions and behavior controlled by the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Law on Internal Affairs controlling the use of firearms by the police force. On July 1, 2003 the Law on the Police Academy was enacted, creating a police academy to train civil and border police officers.
The force has been the subject of a number of recent reforms regarding both the Albanian insurgency,
[BBC New]
article
retrieved on May 14, 2007 and possible violations of
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
, with
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
officials stating that the force was "not really up to European standards" as policemen lacked in skills and weapons.
[''MACEDONIA Police Violence in Macedonia'' Human Rights Watc]
report
retrieved on May 14, 2007
History
The Police were subject to scrutiny during Albanian riots on 9 July 1997 when protesters collected in the western town of Gostivar. Over 200 were wounded and three killed (two shot, one beaten to death)
in a resulting clash with police riot squads, and the Humans Rights Watch investigated allegations of police brutality.
These events underlined a continuing friction between the Macedonian Police force and
Albanians living in North Macedonia.
The
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) was a self-governing group of non-governmental organizations that acted to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia. A specific primary goal was to monitor ...
reported that police abuse of suspects, particularly during initial arrest and detention, and police harassment of ethnic minorities is ongoing.
[Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 (MHC)](_blank)
The Police of North Macedonia work closely with the NATO peacekeepers in patrolling areas with high numbers of ethnic Albanians ever since the
2001 Macedonia conflict ended, and have been receiving weapons from surrendering Albanian insurgents.
Violent attacks, however, still occur as in 2001 three officers were killed by Albanian gunmen.
A Notable Incident was when the Macedonian Police arrested a
Horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
in 2009 used by a crime smuggling ring to smuggle
Air conditioners from
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
. At that time the Police were not sure whether to press charges or not, but ultimately decided to not press charges against the
Horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
.
On the 2nd of December, 2022, during a routine traffic stop, а driver was asked to show his documents, to which the driver didn't comply and proceeded to call an Armed group. Said group proceeded to chase the Police officers out of Aračinovo and into the Gazi Baba police station.
Organization
*
Border Police
*
Lake Patrol Police
*
Traffic Police
*
Helicopter unit
Special Police
*
Special Operations Unit - Tigers
The Special Anti-terrorist Unit is a police unit from North Macedonia. It's one of the prestigious divisions in North Macedonian Police.
Notable domestic missions
* 2001 Albanian Insurgency
* 2007 Operation Mountain Storm
* 2008 Police action: ...
*
Rapid Deployment Unit
Rapid Deployment Unit is a special police unit in North Macedonia.http://star.utrinski.com.mk/?pBroj=1253&stID=3526&pR=2 (''Macedonian'')
Notable domestic missions
Weapons
: Glock 17
: Zastava М-70
: X95-S
: Zastava М-92
: Zastava М-76
: Za ...
*
Special Support Unit
Special Support Unit is a special police unit in North Macedonia.
Notable domestic missions
2015 Kumanovo shootings
See also
: Special Operations Unit - Tigers
: Lions (police unit)
: Alpha (Police Unit)
:Border Police
:Rapid Deployment Unit
: ...
*
Unit for First Response and Intervention - Alpha
Former
*
Lions
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...
Equipment
Vehicles
Former Vehicles
Dogs
Small Arms
Gallery
File:Macedonia Police license plates front and rear Полиција 001-001.jpg, Pre-2019 licence plates of the Macedonian Police
File:License plate Macedonia police front.JPG, License plate on the front of Macedonian Police vehicles
File:License plate Macedonia police back.JPG, License plate on the back of Macedonian Police vehicles
File:Radusha_Police_in_2001.jpg, Police in v.Radusha in 2001
File:Juli2001Matejce.jpg, Special units Tigers and Lions in 2001
See also
*
Intelligence Agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives.
Means of informa ...
''Domestic intelligence agency''
*
Administration for Security and Counterintelligence
The Administration for Security and Counterintelligence ( mk, Управа за безбедност и контраразузнавање), commonly referred to by the acronym UBK, was the domestic counterintelligence and security agency of Nort ...
''Foreign intelligence agency''
:
Military Service for Security and Intelligence
The Military Service for Security and Intelligence of North Macedonia is an intelligence office within the Minister of Defense (North Macedonia), Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia.
Mission
:Planning, analyzing, processing and dissemination o ...
-G2 ''Military intelligence agency''
References
{{Europe topic, Law enforcement in
Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia