Macedonian Police

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 at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also maintain an air base in nearby Idrizovo. Taiwan, Canada, and Italy have all contributed Bell Helicopter Textron helicopters to the police force's Macedonian Police Aviation Unit in cooperation with the Air Force of North Macedonia 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, with NATO 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 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)

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 in 2009 used by a crime smuggling ring to smuggle Air conditioners from Serbia. At that time the Police were not sure whether to press charges or not, but ultimately decided to not press charges against the Horse.

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
* Rapid Deployment Unit
* Special Support Unit
* Unit for First Response and Intervention - Alpha

Former

* Lions

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 ''Domestic intelligence agency''
* Administration for Security and Counterintelligence ''Foreign intelligence agency''
: Military Service for Security and Intelligence-G2 ''Military intelligence agency''

References

{{Europe topic, Law enforcement in

Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia