The Palestinian Civil Police Force ( ar, الشرطة المدنية الفلسطينية, ''al-Shurtah al-Madaniyah al-Filistiniyah'') is the
Civil Police organization tasked with traditional
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...
duties in the autonomous territory governed by the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, . The Civil Police is a part of the
Palestinian Security Services.
History
The Civil Police was formally established with the May 1994 signing of the
Gaza–Jericho Agreement
The Gaza–Jericho Agreement, officially called Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, was a follow-up treaty to the Oslo I Accord in which details of Palestinian autonomy were concluded. The agreement is commonly known as the 1994 Cairo ...
, a chapter in the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; process, under the umbrella of the
General Security Service. Founded with over 10,000 officers, it was the largest substituent of the Palestinian National Security Forces.
[Civil Police (al-Shurta Madaniyya)]
GlobalSecurity.org The agreement called for the civil police maintaining public order from 25 stations throughout the Palestinian-administered parts of the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
and the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.
[Main Points of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip]
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Long-time Police head
Ghazi al-Jabali was criticised for corruption and curbing press and civil rights freedoms. In 2004 he was kidnapped by the Jenin Martyrs Brigades, part of the
Popular Resistance Committees, and only released after Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
agreed to fire him. Al-Jabali was replaced with Arafat's cousin, Musa Arafat, a move which did little to restore public confidence in Police.
[
According to the ]International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on globa ...
, Palestinian police and security forces succeeded in effectively "preventing, prosecuting and reducing crime" in the late 1990s.
During the course of the Second Intifada and its armed conflict, Palestinian police were unable to patrol armed or in uniform, lest they be engaged by Israeli security forces as combatants. As the armed conflict petered out after three years, Palestinian police forces returned to regular operations in 2003-2004.[Who Governs the West Bank? Palestinian Administration under Israeli Occupation]
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on globa ...
Development
In order to aid the Palestinian government in "establishing sustainable and effective civil policing arrangements", the European Union Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support, EUPOLCOPPS, was established beginning 2006.
The Palestinian Civil Police development includes creation of a Jericho Police Training School, and strengthening of investigative sectors like Crime Investigation Department, Anti-Narcotics General Administration, and Investigation Section.
The EUCOPPS mission has facilitated the training of Civil Police personnel as well as the donation of equipment including vehicles from European donor-states.
A Palestinian Local Aid Coordination Secretariat strategic report on the Civil Police lists among the force's strengths its leadership's youth and academic credentials, high loyalty and commitment to regulations and motivation, while weaknesses included poorly or undefined legal frameworks and logistical shortages, especially communications equipment and transportation.
Since 2007, the Palestinian Civil Police and the Israel Police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
have increased cooperation as confidence-building measures
Confidence-building measures (CBMs) or confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) are actions taken to reduce fear of attack by both (or more) parties in a situation of conflict. The term is most often used in the context of armed conflict, ...
and a part of Palestinian institution-building. Since their jurisdictions are intertwined, cooperative tactics include having Israel police issue traffic citations to Palestinian drivers and repatriating the proceeds to the Palestinian Civil Police.''Growing ties between Israeli, PA police forces''
The Jerusalem Post, 10 September 2009
Ranks
See also
*
*
Common Security and Defence Policy
The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The CSDP involves the dep ...
*
European Union Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories
References
External links
* {{Official website
Law enforcement in the State of Palestine
Palestinian Security Services
1994 establishments in the Palestinian territories
Emergency services in the State of Palestine
National police forces