Gendarmerie
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Agendarmerie(/ʒɒnˈdɑːrməri,ʒɒ̃-/) is amilitaryforce withlaw enforcementduties among the civilian population. The termgendarme(English:/ˈʒɒndɑːrm/) is derived from the medieval French expressiongens d'armes,which translates to "men-at-arms"(lit. 'people of arms'). InFranceand someFrancophone nations,the gendarmerie is abranchof thearmed forcesthat is responsible forinternal securityin parts of the territory (primarily in rural areas and small towns in the case of France), with additional duties asmilitary policefor the armed forces.[1]It was introduced to several other Western European countries during theNapoleonic conquests.[2]In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former Frenchmandatesand colonial possessions (such asLebanon,Syria,theIvory Coastand theRepublic of the Congo) adopted a gendarmerie after independence.[3][4]
A similar concept exists in Eastern Europe in the form ofinternal troops,which are present in many countries of the formerSoviet Unionand its former allied countries.
Etymology
[edit]The wordgendarmeis a singular extracted fromOld Frenchgens d'armes(pronounced[ʒɑ̃d‿aʁm]), meaning "men-at-arms".From theLate Middle Agesto theEarly Modernperiod, the term referred to aheavily armoured cavalryman of noble birth,primarily serving in the French army. The word gained policing connotations only during theFrench Revolution,when theMaréchausséeof theAncien Régimewas renamed toGendarmerie.
Historically, the spelling in English wasgendarmery,but now the French spellinggendarmerieis more common. TheOxford English Dictionary(OED) usesgendarmeryas the principal spelling, whereasMerriam-Websterusesgendarmerieas the principal spelling.
Title and status
[edit]These forces are normally titled "gendarmerie", but gendarmeries may bear other titles, for instance theCarabinieriandGuardia di FinanzainItaly,theNational Republican Guard in Portugal,theGuardia CivilinSpain,theRoyal Marechausseein theNetherlandsorInternal Troops/National GuardinUkraineandRussia.
As a result of their duties within the civilian population, gendarmeries are sometimes described as "paramilitary"rather than"military"forces (especially in the English-speaking world where policing is rarely associated with military forces) although this description rarely corresponds to their official status and capabilities. Gendarmes are very rarely deployed in military situations, except in humanitarian deployments abroad.
A gendarmerie may come under the authority of a ministry of defence (e.g.Algeria,NetherlandsandPoland), a ministry of the interior (e.g.Argentina,Romania,TurkeyandUkraine) or even both ministries at once (e.g.Chile,France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain).[5]Generally there is some coordination between ministries of defence and the interior over the use of gendarmes. In addition, some gendarmeries can be part of a civilian police force, such as theIsrael Border Policeor "Magav", which is the gendarmerie branch of the civilianIsrael Police.
A few forces which are no longer considered military retain the title "gendarmerie" for reasons of tradition. For instance, the French language title of theRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceisGendarmerie royale du Canada(GRC) (i.e., Royal Gendarmerie of Canada) because this force traditionally had some military-style functions (although separate from the Canadian Army), and have even been awardedbattle honoursand has retained its status as a regiment ofdragoons.TheArgentine National Gendarmerieis a military force in terms of training, identity and public perception, and was involved in combat in theFalklands War;however, it is classified as a "security force" not an "armed force", to exercise jurisdiction over the civilian population under Argentine law.
Since different countries may make different use of institutional terms such as "gendarmerie", there are cases in which the term may become confusing. For instance, in the French-speakingCantons of Switzerlandthe "gendarmeries" are the uniformed civil police (see:Gendarmerie (Switzerland)). In Chile, the word "gendarmerie" refers for historic reasons to the prison service (the "Chilean Gendarmerie"), while the actual gendarmerie force is called the" carabineros ".
In some cases, a police service's military links are ambiguous and it can be unclear whether a force should be defined as a gendarmerie (e.g. Mexico'sFederal Police,Brazil'sMilitary Police,or the formerBritish South Africa Policeuntil 1980). Some historical military units, such asSouth West Africa'sKoevoet,were only defined as police for political reasons.[6]InRussia,the modernNational Guard(successor of theInternal Troops of Russia) are military units with quasi-police duties but historically, different bodies withinImperial Russia'sSpecial Corps of Gendarmesperformed a variety of functions as an armed rural constabulary, urban riot control units, frontier guards, intelligence agents and political police. Prior to the creation of theIrish Free Statein 1922, some policing was based on theRoyal Irish Constabulary— initially an armed force located in police barracks, routinely unarmed after the 1880s when most civil unrest had subsided. Some consider this a gendarmerie, although this is tendentious as the subsequentGarda Síochánaof the Irish Free State were also uniformly armed but not described as a gendarmerie.
InChina,after numerous reorganizations and transfers of control between thePLAand theMPS,thePeople's Armed Police,a gendarmerie service, was created on 19 June 1982. The establishment of the PAP highlighted the efforts to increase the professionalization of the security apparatus, as well as the absorption of numerous PLA demobilized personnel, in the wake of growing unrest.[citation needed]
In 2014, the MexicanFederal Police,a heavily armed force which has many attributes of a gendarmerie, created a new seventh branch of service called the National Gendarmerie Division. The new force would initially number 5,000 personnel and was created with the assistance of the French gendarmerie.[7]
Role and services
[edit]In comparison to civilian police forces, gendarmeries may provide a more disciplined force whose military capabilities (e.g., armoured group in France witharmoured personnel carriers) make them more capable of dealing with armed groups and with all types of violence. On the other hand, the necessity of a more stringent selection process for military service, especially in terms of physical prowess and health, restricts the pool of potential recruits in comparison to those from which a civilian police force could select.
The growth and expansion of gendarmerie units worldwide has been linked to an increasing reluctance by some governments to use military units typically entrusted with external defence for combating internal threats.[1]A somewhat related phenomenon has been the formation of paramilitary units which fall under the authority of civilian police agencies. Since these are not strictly military forces, however, they are not considered gendarmerie.[8]
In France, the gendarmerie is in charge of rural areas and small towns (typically less than 10,000 inhabitants) which represent 95% of the territory and close to 50% of the population. Besides its territorial organization, it has crowd and riot control units (theGendarmerie Mobile,along with some corresponding units in the civilian police), counter-terrorism and hostage rescue (GIGN,again along with some corresponding units in the civilian police), maritime surveillance, police at sea andcoast guard(Gendarmerie maritime), control and security at airports and air traffic police (Gendarmerie des transports aériens), official buildings guard, honorary services and protection of thePresident(Garde Républicaine), mountain rescue (Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne) and security ofnuclear weaponssites.
French influence
[edit]The use of military organisations to police civilian populations is common to many time periods and cultures. Being a French concept, theFrench Gendarmeriehas been the most influential model for such an organisation.
Many countries that were once under French rule and influence have a gendarmerie. Italy,BelgiumandAustriahave had gendarmeries throughNapoleonicinfluence for instance but, while Italy still has the Italian equivalent known as the Carabinieri, with a second more specialized agency called Guardia di Finanza, Belgium and Austria's gendarmeries have merged with the civil police (in, respectively, 2001 and 2005). Many former French colonies, especially in Africa, also have gendarmeries. The DutchRoyal Marechausseewas created by King William I to replace the French Gendarmerie after French rule ended.
The national police force of Canada, theRoyal Canadian Mounted Policeis referred to in French as the Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC). However the RCMP is a mainly civilian organisation withinPublic Safety Canada.It is not part of theCanadian Department of National Defence,but does have aparamilitary wingand they have been awarded the status of a regiment of dragoons, with a military battle standard displaying their battle honours following service in World War I. Those honours include Northwest Canada, South Africa, The Great War, and the Second World War.
A common gendarmerie symbol is a flaminggrenade,first used as insignia by the French force.
Role in modern conflicts
[edit]Gendarmes play an important role re-establishinglaw and orderin conflict areas, a task which is suited to their purpose, training and capabilities.[9][10]Gendarmeries are widely used forinternal securityand inpeacekeepingoperations, for instance in the formerYugoslavia[9]and inIvory Coast,[11]sometimes via theEuropean Gendarmerie Force.[12]
See also
[edit]- Carabinier
- Constabulary
- List of gendarmeries
- Martial law
- Militia
- National Guard
- Security forces
- Security police
- SWAT
References
[edit]- ^abLioe, Kim Eduard (2010).Armed Forces in Law Enforcement Operations? – The German and European Perspective(1989 ed.). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 52–57.ISBN978-3-642-15433-1.
- ^Emsley, Clive (1999).Gendarmes and the State in Nineteenth-Century Europe.Oxford University Press. pp.52–57.ISBN978-0198207986.
- ^Deep, Daniel (2012).Occupying Syria Under the French Mandate: Insurgency, Space and State Formation.Cambridge University Press. p. 204.ISBN978-1-107-00006-3.
- ^Clark, John; Decalo, Samuel (2012).Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo.Lanham: Scarecrow Press. pp. 44–49.ISBN978-0-8108-7989-8.
- ^Lutterbeck, Derek (2013).The Paradox of Gendarmeries: Between Expansion, Demilitarization and Dissolution(PDF).Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).ISBN978-9292222864.SSR Paper 8. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 December 2019.Retrieved8 December2019.
- ^Binaifer Nowrojee, Bronwen Manby (1993).Accountability in Namibia: Human rights and the transition to democracy(2001 ed.). Human Rights Watch. pp.17–20.ISBN978-1-56432-117-6.
- ^The Economist,August 23, 2014, pp. 30–31.
- ^Kumar, Kuldeep (2016).Police and Counterinsurgency: The Untold Story of Tripura's COIN Campaign.Sage Publications India. pp. 90–94.ISBN978-9351507475.
- ^ab"composition of the KFOR".Archivedfrom the original on 2012-05-08.Retrieved2012-03-21.
- ^Giovanni Arcudi,Forces de police et forces armées, sécurité et défense: où sont les frontières?Archived2016-10-18 at theWayback Machine,Cahier du GIPRI,n° 2, pp. 17–64.
- ^official website of the French Defence MinistryArchived2011-09-21 at theWayback Machine(in French)
- ^Arcudi, Giovanni; Smith, Michael E. (2013)."The European Gendarmerie Force: A solution in search of problems?".European Security.22:1–20.doi:10.1080/09662839.2012.747511.