The Gendarmery ( sr, Жандармерија, Žandarmerija) is the
national gendarmerie
The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Mini ...
force of the
Republic of 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 ...
. It is under the authority of the Police Directorate of the Serbian Ministry of Interior and was formed on 28 June 2001, after the disbandment of the
Special Police Units (PJP). Gendarmery in Serbia existed in previous form from 1860 to 1920. As a special unit inside Serbian police, its role can be compared to those of
Russian OMON and former Ukrainian
Berkut units.
As of 2017, Gendarmery consists of about 2,800 members. The Command of the Gendarmery is in Belgrade.
The gendarmery's duties are both civilian and military, including securing the 'Ground Safety Zone' along the administrative line with Kosovo and providing disaster rescue teams (see below).
History
The word ''žandarmerija'' is a French loanword ("
gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
"), and is pronounced "zhandarmeriya". The Žandarmerija corps date back to the
Principality of Serbia
The Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Књажество Србија, Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation wa ...
, established on June 28, 1860, and originally consisted of 120 officers. It was an important police special unit both in Kingdom of Serbia and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. However, it was abandoned after
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and was restored in 2001 by the reorganization of the irregular "Special Police Unit" (, PJP).
This was accomplished by an act issued by the Interior Minister
Dušan Mihajlović. One of its first major assignments was capturing the suspects in the
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of Prime Minister
Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđi� ...
.
On 7 May 2003, the
Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU) was established within Gendarmery, but was separated in April 2007 to become an independent unit within the Police.
In 2005 the Person and Infrastructure Protection Unit was established, to carry out close protection tasks, as well as activities related to technical protection.
In 2011 the Gendarmery was reorganized and the First Quick Response Detachment was established, consisting of the specialist companies of all Gendarmery detachments along with the Diving Center.
Commanders
Since its establishment, the Serbian Gendarmery has had six Commanders:
Organization
In 2012, the Serbian Gendarmery consisted of about 3,734 members,
while in 2017 the strength is estimated at 2,800 members.
Alongside the operational detachments deployed through Serbia, the Gendarmery has some specialized units: the Diving Unit and the Personnel and Infrastructure Protection Unit, which is specialized in tasks of physical and technical protection.
Detachments
The principal bases are located in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
,
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...
,
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
and
Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar River, Ibar, in the geographical region of � ...
.
Detachments are organized as independent units in order to be able to execute every-day duties on their territory of jurisdiction. Should the need arise, each detachment may quickly support others throughout Serbia.
First Quick Detachment
Within each operational detachment, a company-sized specialized unit is tasked to deal with most complex tasks in both
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
and rural environment. In turn, each specialized unit consists of several counter-terrorist teams, which may be reinforced by sniper, K9 and explosive ordnance disposal assets when needed.
Since 2011, specialized units are grouped within the First Quick Detachment.
The first commander was Police Lieutenant Colonel Vojkan Ivanovic.
Diving Unit
The Diving Unit of the Serbian Gendarmery is headquartered in Belgrade and is intended for conducting special actions in environments dominated by water, as well as the land area near water.
Its operational element consists of three specialist teams: intervention team, searching team and nautical team.
The Diving Unit tracks its origins to 1997, when it was established within the Special Operation Unit.
Mission
Its main duties are:
* Restoring peace and stability if they have been heavily disturbed
* Counter terrorism
* Countering violent groups
* Repressing
prison riots
Its civil duties include: to provide security and public peace, to investigate and prevent organized crime, terrorism and other violent groups; to protect state and private property; to help and assist civilians and other emergency forces in a case of emergency, natural disaster, civil unrest and armed conflicts.
Its military duties include to provide, preserve and protect security and public peace, public order, to protect state and private property, to assist other security forces in case of emergency, civil unrest, war; to repress riots; to reinforce martial law and mobilization; to fight and apprehend suspected criminals, terrorists and other violent groups ;
Its additional duties are to perform any duties decreed in the decrees of law and regulations other than civil, military and other duties and the duties given by the governmental decrees based on them.
Equipment
Firearms
Vehicles
See also
*
Police of Serbia
The Police of Serbia ( sr, Полиција Србије, Policija Srbije), formally the Police of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Полиција Републике Србије, Policija Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Police ( s ...
References
External links
Official Žandarmerija of the Ministry of Internal AffairsShort video about Žandarmerija"Nadležnosti" uties ''Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Serbia''
{{Serbian Police units
Serbian Gendarmerie
1860 establishments in Serbia
1940s disestablishments in Serbia
2001 establishments in Serbia
Articles containing video clips
Specialist law enforcement agencies of Serbia
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 Hu ...