Military Gendarmerie (Poland)

Military Gendarmerie
*Żandarmeria Wojskowa*
Military Gendarmerie; Żandarmeria Wojskowa
	Badge of the Military Gendarmerie
Agency overview
Formed	1 September 1990
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Poland
Constituting instruments	Act on the Military Gendarmerie and other law enforcement authorities, 2001; No. Pf-42 / Org. Minister of National Defense of 18 April 1990; No. 062 / Org. Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army of June 15, 1990;
General nature	Military police;
Operational structure
Agency executive	gen. dyw. Tomasz Połuch, Chief Commander;
Parent agency	Ministry of National Defence
Notables
Anniversary	13 June (Military Gendarmerie day);
Website
	Official website

The Military Gendarmerie (Polish: Żandarmeria Wojskowa, abbreviated ŻW) is a military police force established in 1990 in Poland as a specialized service of the Polish Armed Forces.

The exact role of the gendarmerie has been historically difficult to ascertain, with several changes and developments since the fall of communism. Prior to the abandonment of conscription in 2009, the ZW was primarily concerned with the conscription efforts of the Polish Armed Forces and chasing down avoiders, however the unit returned to traditional military policing after this with a confusing hiatus of their public role and deployment for 10 years with ad-hoc deployment at the government's will. Since the coronavirus pandemic however, ZW has taken an increasingly public role in society.

In further confusion, in 2021 the Gendarmerie was demoted from a full service branch of the Polish Armed Forces, instead being classified as an "other" unit, alongside the Inspectorate of Armed Forces Support (logistics unit), the Warsaw Garrison (various representational and ceremonial duties in the capital), as well as the Operational Command and General Staff which are the main decisional organs in the chain of command. As of 2022, the unit also has a Criminal Directorate acting as an intelligence gathering unit for cybersecurity purposes.

History

The Polish Military Gendarmerie is a military police force that traces its history to the communist-era Military Internal Service (Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna), World War II-era Service for Protection of the Uprising (Wojskowa Służba Ochrony Powstania), interwar-era military police in the Second Polish Republic, formations of the January and November Uprising, Duchy of Warsaw and finally, some officials of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, first created in early 17th century.

The modern Polish Military Gendarmerie was formed on 1 September 1990 on the basis of order No. Pf-42 / Org. Minister of National Defense of 18 April 1990 and order No. 062 / Org. Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army of 15 June 1990. At this formation the structure was as follows:

Headquarters of the Military Police in Warsaw
Military Police Command:
- Warsaw Military District
- Pomeranian Military District
- Silesian Military District

In addition, the following Military Gendarmerie Departments were established: Warsaw, Kraków, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, Wrocław and Poznań, and also the Military Gendarmerie Training Center in Mińsk Mazowiecki.

In August 2001, Sejm (lower house of parliament of Poland) passed Act on the Military Gendarmerie and other law enforcement authorities which specify tasks and authorities of the Military Gendarmerie.^[1]

In 2007, the Military Gendarmerie was granted partner status to the European Gendarmerie Force, and since 2015 become a full member.^[2]

Role in civilian policing

In October 2020, the Military Gendarmerie were ordered to help the civilian police in the "protection of safety and public order", starting from 28 October 2020. The order was given in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.^[3] Since the beginning of the pandemic, the ZW has taken an increasingly public and pervasive role in the policing of society, often supplementing or fully overtaking the traditional roles of the national Police force.

Among other notable role changes and developments in the last two years, the ZW has overtaken all duties on patrolling the highways and national roads to inspect the goods of large trucks and their roadworthiness, and for the first time arrest powers were extended to the ZW when dealing with truck drivers who carry unregistered arms, drugs or illegal immigrants which fall out of the jurisdiction zones of the border force.^[4]

In urban areas, local ZW units have been signposted to augment the local police in carrying out pedestrianised patrols and fining drivers who do not follow pedestrian-priority road laws.^[5] It also appears that ZW has begun to augment the police and fire services in search operations – ZW equipment and personnel have begun to be deployed to search for missing persons. In the past, ZW units have been regularly deployed for this purpose to search for deserters and conscription-avoiders and much experience remains in this area. ^[6]

Most visibly to the public eye however is the expansion of use of ZW units in protection of public events and gatherings. ZW units have been increasingly regularly deployed to supplement or overtake the roles of the national police in overseeing public events, gatherings and sports events. Notably however, they have been excluded from protests (from which they are constitutionally banned) and VIP/government protection (unlike other Gendarmerie forces in Spain and France, however, in Poland this role is undertaken by the SOP).

Two military police officers and a four-wheel drive police car from the Żandarmeria Wojskowa.

Structure

The ŻW is organized into:

Headquarters
3 special units
10 units
2 departments
45 regional stations

Commanders

The current commander is gen. dyw. Tomasz Połuch.^[7]

gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Jerzy Jarosz (1 IX 1990 – 20 II 1992)
Płk dypl. (Certified Officer) Henryk Piątkowski (11 III 1992 – 1 IV 1993)
gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Alfons Kupis (1 IV 1993 – 24 VII 2000)
gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jerzy Słowiński (1 VIII 2000 – 30 VII 2003)
gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Bogusław Pacek (31 VII 2003 – 3 X 2006)
gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jan Żukowski (3 X 2006 – 1 I 2008)
gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Marek Witczak (2 I 2008 – 17 XII 2010)
gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Mirosław Rozmus (17 XII 2010 - 11 VI 2015)
gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Piotr Nidecki (12 VI 2015 - 24 XII 2015)
gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Tomasz Połuch (24 XII 2015 -)

Ranks

Officers

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1
Żandarmeria wojskowa v t e
Żandarmeria wojskowa v t e									Generał brygady		Pułkownik		Podpułkownik		Major		Kapitan		Porucznik			Podporucznik

Enlisted

NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Żandarmeria wojskowa v t e
Żandarmeria wojskowa v t e	Starszy chorąży sztabowy			Starszy chorąży			Chorąży				Młodszy chorąży						Starszy sierżant						Sierżant				Plutonowy	Starszy kapral	Kapral						Starszy szeregowy	Szeregowy

Equipment

Infantry weapons

Model	Origin	Type	Variant	Number	Details
Glock 17	Austria	9 mm Para Semi-Auto Pistol	Glock 17	1,500	^[8]
PM-84 Glauberyt	Poland	9 mm Para Submachine Gun	PM-98 PM-06		^[8]
MP5	Germany	9 mm Para Submachine Gun	MP5A3		^[8]
Mossberg 500	United States	12 gauge	M50440		^[8]
Kbk wz. 1996 Mini-Beryl	Poland	5.56mm NATO Carbine	wz. 1996B wz. 1996C		^[8]
UKM-2000	Poland	7.62mm NATO general purpose machine gun	UKM-2000P UKM-2000D		^[8]
Sako TRG	Finland	7.62mm NATO Sniper Rifle	TRG-22		^[8]

Vehicles

Model	Origin	Type	Number	Details
Land Rover Defender	United Kingdom	Four-wheel Multi-Purpose Drive Vehicle	100	^[9]
AMZ Łoś	Italy Poland	4x4 truck		^[8]
Skoda Octavia	Czech Republic	Intervention vehicle		^[8]
Opel Vivaro	Germany	Van		^[8]
Ford Transit	United States	Van		^[8]
Opel Insignia	Germany	Patrol car
Yamaha FZ6	Japan	Motorcycle		^[8]

Members who have died in service

Soldiers of the Military Police died during their official duties:

Starszy kapral Krzysztof Sypień from the Military Gendarmerie Department in Kraków, † 11 VIII 2002 Kraków, posthumously promoted to platoon-leader.
Starszy szeregowy Grzegorz Bukowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 15 June 2010 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Corporal.
Starszy szeregowy Marcin Pastusiak from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 22 January 2011 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Starszy szeregowy Tomasz Janowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Gdynia, † 29 March 2016 Iraq, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

References

^ Ustawa z dnia 24 sierpnia 2001 r. o Żandarmerii Wojskowej i wojskowych organach porządkowych (Act 123) (in Polish). 2001.
^ "Żandarmeria Wojskowa – Member State". European Gendarmerie Force. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
^ Morawiecki, Mateusz (October 23, 2020). "Zarządzenie Nr 180 Prezesa Rady Ministrów z dnia 23 października 2020 r." [Decree No 180 of the President of the Council of Ministers from October 23, 2020] (PDF). Monitor Polski. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2020.
^ "Wspólne kontrole ciężarówek z Żandarmerią Wojskową - Główny Inspektorat Transportu Drogowego - Portal Gov.pl". Główny Inspektorat Transportu Drogowego.
^ "Dron jako pomoc do kontrolowania bezpieczeństwa na drogach". www.eska.pl.
^ "Strażacy, policjanci i żandarmeria wojskowa poszukują 21-latka. Do działań wykorzystano śmigłowiec i łodzie (zdjęcia)". Lublin112.pl - Wiadomości z Lublina i regionu. Ważne informacje z kraju.
^ "Komendant Główny Żandarmerii Wojskowej" (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-04-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW, Uzbrojenie" (in Polish). Żandarmeria Wojskowa. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
^ "Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW, Pojazdy" (in Polish). Żandarmeria Wojskowa. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

External links

Official website (in Polish)

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[1] Ustawa z dnia 24 sierpnia 2001 r. o Żandarmerii Wojskowej i wojskowych organach porządkowych (Act 123) (in Polish). 2001.

[2] "Żandarmeria Wojskowa – Member State". European Gendarmerie Force. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-02.

[Morawiecki-3] Morawiecki, Mateusz (October 23, 2020). "Zarządzenie Nr 180 Prezesa Rady Ministrów z dnia 23 października 2020 r." [Decree No 180 of the President of the Council of Ministers from October 23, 2020] (PDF). Monitor Polski. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2020.

[4] "Wspólne kontrole ciężarówek z Żandarmerią Wojskową - Główny Inspektorat Transportu Drogowego - Portal Gov.pl". Główny Inspektorat Transportu Drogowego.

[5] "Dron jako pomoc do kontrolowania bezpieczeństwa na drogach". www.eska.pl.

[6] "Strażacy, policjanci i żandarmeria wojskowa poszukują 21-latka. Do działań wykorzystano śmigłowiec i łodzie (zdjęcia)". Lublin112.pl - Wiadomości z Lublina i regionu. Ważne informacje z kraju.

[7] "Komendant Główny Żandarmerii Wojskowej" (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-04-02.

[ZW-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW, Uzbrojenie" (in Polish). Żandarmeria Wojskowa. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

[9] "Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW, Pojazdy" (in Polish). Żandarmeria Wojskowa. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

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