Israel Police

The Israel Police ( _he. משטרת ישראל, "Mishteret Yisrael") is a civilian force in the State of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control and maintaining public safety. It is under the jurisdiction of the Internal Security ministry.

The current police commissioner is Rav-Nitzav Dudi Cohen, who succeeded Rav-Nitzav Moshe Karadi.

The Headquarters of the Israel Police (specifically called _he. מטה ארצי, "mateh artzi", National Commandment) are located in Jerusalem, in the neighbourhood (former East-Jerusalem) of Nachal Egoz (Vadi Dzhoz, _ar. وادي الجوز Wādī [l-] Jūz).

In case of emergency, a civilian in Israel can reach the police by dialing 100 from any telephone.

Roles

* Security
** Counter terror.
** Keep public's security.
** Maintain public order.
** Securing public events, rallies and holidays.
** Handling suspicious objects and explosives (EOD).
** Securing schools.
** Riot control / crowd control.
* Law enforcement
* Crime fighting
** Fight crime.
** Detective work.
** Covert operations against drug networks.
** Investigating suspects.
* Traffic control
* Police and community
** Operating the Civil Guard (Mishmar Ezrachi -or Mashaz- in Hebrew).
** Handling civilian complaints.
** Handling youth violence and crime.
** Educating the community and participating in educational campaigns.

Organization

: [http://www.police.gov.il/english/AboutUs/Structure/02_chart.asp Diagram - organizational structure]

The Israeli Police is a professional force, with some 30,000 officers on payroll. There are also some 70,000 Civil Guard ("Mash'az") volunteers who contribute time to assist officers in their own communities.

The police is divided into the following main divisional groups:

Headquarters units

* International Relations
* Legal Counsel
* Immigration Control
* Audit & Accounts
* Economic Crimes
* Public Complaints
* Disciplinary Court
* Service Administration
* Safety
* Appeals
* Controller
* Spokesperson

Departments

* Human Resources
* Investigation & Intelligence
* Logistic Support
* Organization & Planning
* Traffic
* Patrol & Security
* Community & Civil Guard

Regional districts

* Central District
* Southern District
* Northern District
* Judea & Samaria District
* Tel Aviv District
* Jerusalem District

Operational units

* The Border Police ("MAGAV") is the combat arm of the police and mainly serves in unquiet areas - the borders, the West Bank, and the rural countryside. The Border Police has both professional officers on payroll and conscripts, serving 3 mandatory years in the Border Police instead of in the Israeli Defence Forces.

* The Yamam is the police elite counter terror hostage rescue unit. It is known as one of the most experienced and specialized in the world. The unit has taken part in hundreds of operations in and outside the borders of Israel.

*The Yassam (Special Patrol Unit) is the on-call counter-terror unit in each district. The units, originally started as Riot Police, were called upon to assist with counter-terror operations. It has gained a reputation of being the most elite force on call and ready at any time. The Yassam has sub-units of Rapid Response Motorcycle Units.

Weapons and gear

Israeli police officers are obliged to carry personal firearms while on duty. This is because the Israeli police duties include also counter terror and each police officer must be able to supply an emergency reaction in case of terrorist attack. Another reason is that there are threats of kidnapping officers by Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas or Fatah's Tanzim.

Each policeman is armed with a pistol (handgun) which he or she usually also carries at while off-duty. Also, each patrol car must have at least one long-arm (i.e rifle). Police volunteers are usually armed with an M1 Carbine, which they return to the police's armory after they finish their duty (they do not take the rifle home, but may sign one out for escorting field trips, etc.). Volunteers who have a gun license may use their own personal handgun as personal defence weapon for their police duty, under the condition that the gun and ammunition type is authorized by the police (9 mm). Common pistols owned and carried by volunteers include Glock and CZ-75 designs.

Heavy armaments such as assault rifles, sniper rifles and non-lethal weapons are assigned according to activity and not on personal basis.

Border policemen, however, carry an M16 assault rifle as a standard personal weapon and can carry it home while off-duty (like regular infantry in the Israel Defense Forces).

Issued weaponry

tandard issued rifles (non-combat):

* M1 Carbine (also standard issued weapon of the Mash'az - Civil Guard)
* M1A1 Carbine (modernized M1 Carbine with folding stock)
* M1 Carbine bullpup
* Micro-Galil 5.56 mm submachine gun

tandard issued assault rifle (combat):

* M16 assault rifle, Colt Commando, CAR15, M4 Carbine
* Galil assault rifle

niper rifles

* Remington 700P
* Mauser SP66
* Mauser K98 (mainly in the Civil Guard)
* M14 Rifle (mainly in Israel Border Police)
* Galatz - Galil Tzalafim (Galil Sniper version)

Handguns

* IMI Jericho 941
* Beretta 71 .22LR
* Browning Hi-Power
* Glock 17 (Yamam and other special units only)

Non lethal weapons:

* police batons
* tear gas grenades
* flash grenades
* rubber bullets
* pepper spray
* water cannon

Ranks

:"Source: [http://www.police.gov.il/english/AboutUs/Ranks/xx_en_ranks.asp Israel Police website] ( [http://www.police.gov.il/al_hamishtara/dargot_u_smalim/01bd_darg.asp Hebrew version] )"

Honors and Awards

* July 6, 2004: Received an award from the Anti-Defamation League for its counter terror efforts and for passing seminars of counter-terror measures to FBI and local USA police. [http://www.adl.org/learn/news/Amichai_Shai.asp] , [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1089090725477&p=1078027574097]

List of General Commissioners

* Yehezkel Sahar (1948–1958)
* Yosef Nachmias (1958–1964)
* Pinhas Kopel (1964–1972)
* Aaron Sela (1972)
* Shaul Rosolio (1972–1976)
* Haim Tavori (1976–1979)
* Herzl Shapir (1980)
* Aryeh Ivtzen (1981–1985)
* David Kraus (1985–1990)
* Yaakov Turner (1990–1993)
* Rafi Peled (1993–1994)
* Asaf Hefetz (1994–1997)
* Yehuda Vilk (1998–2000)
* Shlomo Aharonishki (2001–2004)
* Moshe Karadi (2004–2007)
* Dudi Cohen (2007–date)

See also

*Lahav 433

External links

*Official website:
** [http://www.police.gov.il/english/default.asp English]
** [http://www.police.gov.il Hebrew]
** [http://www.police.gov.il/arabic/index.html Arabic]
** [http://www.police.gov.il/russian/default.asp Russian]
* [http://www.geocities.com/ilpolicecars Israeli Police Vehicles - Hebrew]
* [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1576 Israeli Police Work Cast Under Discredit]