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Police of North Macedonia

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Police of North Macedonia
Полиција (Macedonian)
Policia (Albanian)
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Agency overview
Formed1992
Jurisdictional structure
National agencyNorth Macedonia
Operations jurisdictionNorth Macedonia
Primary governing bodyGovernment of North Macedonia
Secondary governing bodyMinistry of Internal Affairs
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersSkopje
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Magdalena Nestorovska, State Secretary of theMIA
Parent agencyGovernment of North Macedonia
Child agency
Facilities
StationsSkopje, Kumanovo, Shtip, Strumica, Bitola, Ohrid, and Tetovo
Light vehiclesChevrolet Spark 100[1]
ScotersSym HD2 200i,
Piaggio Beverly 125[2]
Helicoptersagusta AB206B-2 (1), agusta ab212 (1), bell 412ep (1), mil Mi-171 (1), mil Mi-17V-5 (1)
DogsGerman Shepherd
Notables
Anniversary
  • May 7th
Award
  • HungaryConstantinus 2013 Silver Medal[3]
Website
mvr.gov.mk

Law enforcement in North Macedoniais the responsibility of the Police of the Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonian:Полиција на Република Северна Македонија;Albanian:Policia e Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut).[4]

The police headquarters are located inSkopjeat theMinistry of Internal Affairs,and also maintain an air base in nearby Idrizovo. Taiwan, Canada, and Italy have all contributedBell Helicopter Textronhelicopters to the police force's Macedonian Police Aviation Unit in cooperation with theAir Force of North Macedoniato help combat insurgencies the country.[5]

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.[6]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.[7]

The force has been the subject of a number of recent reforms regarding both the Albanian insurgency,[8]and possible violations ofhuman rights,[9][10]withNATOofficials stating that the force was "not really up to European standards" as policemen lacked in skills and weapons.[11][12]

History

[edit]

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)[12] in a resulting clash with police riot squads, and the Humans Rights Watch investigated allegations of police brutality.[12] These events underlined a continuing friction between the Macedonian Police force andAlbanians living in North Macedonia.[12]TheInternational Helsinki Federation for Human Rightsreported that police abuse of suspects, particularly during initial arrest and detention, and police harassment of ethnic minorities is ongoing.[13]

The Police of North Macedonia work closely with the NATO peacekeepers in patrolling areas with high numbers of ethnic Albanians ever since the2001 Macedonia conflictended, and have been receiving weapons from surrendering Albanian insurgents.[8]Violent attacks, however, still occur as in 2001 three officers were killed by Albanian gunmen.[14]

A Notable Incident was when the Macedonian Police arrested aHorsein 2009 used by a crime smuggling ring to smuggleAir conditionersfromSerbia.At that time the Police were not sure whether to press charges or not, but ultimately decided to not press charges against theHorse.[15]

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.[16][17][18]

Organization

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Special Police

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Former

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Equipment

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Vehicles

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Vehicle Photo Origin Users Use Notes
Light Vehicles
Chevrolet Spark South Korea Regular and Traffic Police Patrolling and Transport [1]
Dacia Duster Romania Forest and Border Police Patrolling and Transport Due to a lack of Vehicles, the Police of North Macedonia has begun using Border Police vehicles as regular Police vehicles.
Land Rover Defender 110 United Kingdom Regular, Special and Border Police Patrolling, Transport and Surveillance The Border Police uses a modified Land Rover fitted with Cameras designed to monitor certain areas to prevent illegal crossings etc.
Škoda Octavia Czech Republic Regular and Traffic Police Patrolling and Transport
Dacia Sandero Romania Traffic Police[19] Patrolling and Transport Ten in Service.
Škoda Yeti Czech Republic Regular and Traffic Police Patrolling and Transport The vehicle is used by all police offices, stations, departments in North Macedonia and is its most recognizable vehicle. There is another version of the vehicle that is used as a lead vehicle in traffic and escort security (CEO) of VIPs, officials etc. The only difference in appearance are the police lights which appear in blue and red instead of the usual blue.[20]
BMW (E46) Germany Regular and Traffic Police Patrolling and Transport Limited Use by certain departments[21]
Volkswagen Transporter Germany Regular and Special Police Patrolling and Transport The vehicle used by the regular police, unlike the original, is fitted with a high roof. This van, without markings and without an upgraded roof, is also used by the special police. In 2014, a project for mobile police stations was promoted in the area of Skopje and this van was chosen to be the main vehicle used in this project.[22]
Ssangyong Rexton South Korea Border Police Patrolling and Transport Due to a lack of Vehicles, the Police of North Macedonia has begun using Border Police vehicles as regular Police vehicles.
Dacia Dokker Romania
France		 Patrolling and Transport
Helicopters
Bell 206B-2 United States
Canada		 Helicopter Unit Patrolling and Transport One in Service.
Bell AB 212 United States
Canada		 Helicopter Unit Patrolling and Transport One in Service.
Bell 412EP United States
Canada		 Helicopter Unit Patrolling and Transport One in Service.
Mil Mi-171 Soviet Union
Russia		 Helicopter Unit Patrolling and Transport One in Service.
Mil Mi-17V-5 Soviet Union
Russia		 Helicopter Unit Patrolling and Transport Three in Service.
Motorcycles
Honda ST1300 Pan-European Japan Traffic Police CEO Transport Used by the Department for Vanguard, Traffic and Escort Security (CEO) in its activities, including the escort of VIPs, officials, etc.[20]
Sanyang SYM HD2 200i Taiwan Traffic Police CEO Transport Used by the Department for Vanguard, Traffic and Escort Security (CEO) in its activities, including the escort of VIPs, officials, etc.[20]
Piaggio Beverly Italy Traffic Police CEO Transport 120cc version is used[2]
Armored Vehicles
TM-170 Germany Special Police Transport Known as the "Hermelin" (Stoat/Ermine in English). Used by theSpecial Operations Unitand theRapid Deployment Unit.
BTR-80 Soviet Union
Russia		 Special Police Transport Used by theSpecial Operations Unitand theRapid Deployment Unit.
Wolf Armoured Vehicle Israel Special Police Transport Used by theSpecial Operations Unitand theRapid Deployment Unit.
TOMA Turkey Special Police Unknown

Former Vehicles

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Vehicle Photo Origin Users Use Notes
Chrysler Cirrus United States Regular Police Patrolling and Transport 210 were purchased in 2000 and used into the 2010s, averaging more than 500,000 kilometres (310,000 mi) traveled each.[23][24][25][26]
Jeep Cherokee United States Regular Police Patrolling and Transport
Mercedes-Benz W124 Germany Regular Police Patrolling and Transport
Volkswagen Polo Mk3 Germany Regular Police Patrolling and Transport

Dogs

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Breed Photo Origin Users Notes
German Shepherd Germany K9 Unit

Small Arms

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Name Photo Type Origin Notes
Pistols
Zastava CZ 99 Pistol Yugoslavia
Serbia		 9×19mm

Standard issued pistol of the police.

Glock17 Pistol Austria 9x19mm

Used by theSpecial Operations Unit.

Submachine guns
H&K MP5 Submachine gun Germany 9×19mm

Used by theSpecial Operations Unit.

Assault Rifles
Zastava M70 Assault rifle Yugoslavia
North Macedonia
Serbia		 7.62×39mm

Used for special situations such as armed conflict, but can also be used daily by police station guards.

AR-M1 Assault rifle Bulgaria 7.62×39mm and 5.56×45mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

IWI Tavor BullpupAssault Rifle Israel 5.56×45mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

IWI Tavor X95 BullpupAssault Rifle Israel 5.56×45mm

Used by theSpecial Operations Unit.

Zastava M92 Assault rifle Yugoslavia
Serbia		 7.62×39mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

Sniper Rifles
Zastava M76 Sniper rifle Yugoslavia
Serbia		 7.92×57mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

Zastava M93 Sniper rifle Serbia 12.7×108mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

Sako TRG-42 Sniper rifle Finland 12.7×57mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

McMillan TAC-50 Sniper rifle United States .50 BMG

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

AI-AXMC Sniper rifle United Kingdom 7.62×51mm,.338 Lapua Magnum and.300 Winchester Magnum

Used by theSpecial Operations Unit.

SVD Dragunov Sniper rifle Soviet Union
Russia		 7.62×54mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

Machine guns
PKM Machine gun Soviet Union
Russia		 7.62×54mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

Zastava M84 Machine gun Yugoslavia
Serbia		 7.62×54mm

Used by theRapid Deployment Unit.

IWI Negev Machine gun Israel 5.56×45mm

Used by theSpecial Operations Unit.

[edit]
  • Pre-2019 licence plates of the Macedonian Police
    Pre-2019 licence plates of the Macedonian Police
  • License plate on the front of Macedonian Police vehicles
    License plate on the front of Macedonian Police vehicles
  • License plate on the back of Macedonian Police vehicles
    License plate on the back of Macedonian Police vehicles
  • Police in v.Radusha in 2001
    Police in v.Radusha in 2001
  • Special units Tigers and Lions in 2001
    Special units Tigers and Lions in 2001
  • Pre-2019 Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police
    Pre-2019 Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police

See also

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Military Service for Security and Intelligence-G2Military intelligence agency

References

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  1. ^ab"Промовирани новите полициски возила (галерија)".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-09-30.Retrieved2015-04-29.(Macedonian)
  2. ^ab"Македонската полиција доби нови скутери Sym HD2 200i".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-04.Retrieved2015-04-29.(Macedonian)
  3. ^"ÜDVÖZÖLJÜK HONLAPUNKON".
  4. ^"МВР го промени името: Полиција на Република Северна Македонија".
  5. ^AeroflightpageArchived2007-01-19 at theWayback Machineon the Macedonian Police Aviation Unit, retrieved on May 14, 2007
  6. ^Legislation OnlinearticleArchived2007-09-27 at theWayback Machineretrieved on May 14, 2007
  7. ^Republic of Macedonia Police AcademywebsiteArchived2007-05-14 at theWayback Machineretrieved on May 14, 2007
  8. ^abBBC Newsarticleretrieved on May 14, 2007
  9. ^Human rights Newsarticleretrieved on May 14, 2007
  10. ^Amnesty Internationalarticleretrieved on May 14, 2007
  11. ^The Guardianarticleretrieved on May 14, 2007
  12. ^abcdMACEDONIA Police Violence in MacedoniaHuman Rights Watchreportretrieved on May 14, 2007
  13. ^Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 (MHC)Archived2007-03-11 at theWayback Machine
  14. ^BBC Newsarticleretrieved on May 14, 2007
  15. ^Insight, Balkan (12 January 2009)."Macedonia Police Arrests Smuggling Horse".
  16. ^"Armed group in Arachinovo chased away the police because they stopped a person who was driving a vehicle without valid documents?!".
  17. ^"Стоилковски: Тежок скандал - Криминалци избркале полицајци од полициска станица во Арачиново".
  18. ^"Стоилковски: Тежок скандал- Криминалци избркале полицајци од полициска станица во Арачиново, Спасовски оставка веднаш".
  19. ^"Предадени 10 возила за потребите на сообраќајната полиција од страна на РСБСП".2022.
  20. ^abcYouTube:"Полициско одделение за сообраќајно и ескортно обезбедување".
  21. ^press, gostivar (3 July 2022)."Лудувал со автомобил на улица во Гостивар, завршил во полиција".gostivarpress.mk.
  22. ^https://republika.mk/273681[permanent dead link]
  23. ^"Picture".2001. Archived fromthe originalon 7 November 2012.Retrieved15 July2019.
  24. ^"Macedonia's Trademark Police Cars Drive into History".30 August 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-11-07.
  25. ^"Archived copy".fh1w93s8iw-flywheel.netdna-ssl.Archived fromthe originalon 7 November 2012.Retrieved11 January2022.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^Brendan Saur (February 6, 2019)."Curbside Classic: 1999 Chrysler Cirrus LXi – Remember when Chrysler Showed Hope?".Curbside Classics.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-02-08.
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