- Palestine Police Force
The Palestine Police Force was a British colonial police service established in
Palestine on1 July ,1920 ,Sinclair, 2006.] whenHigh Commissioner Herbert Samuel's civil administration took over responsibility for security from General Allenby's Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (South). [Bernard Wasserstein, ‘Samuel, Herbert Louis, first Viscount Samuel (1870–1963)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35928, accessed 29 May 2007] ]Background
The
Egyptian Expeditionary Force had won the decisiveBattle of Gaza in November 1917 under the newly appointedCommander-in-Chief of Palestine, Edmund Allenby. Following the Battle of Jerusalem in December Allenby accepted the surrender of the city, which was placed undermartial law ,Matthew Hughes, ‘Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, first Viscount Allenby of Megiddo (1861–1936)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30392, accessed 29 May 2007] ] and guards posted at several points within the city and in Bethlehem to protect sites held sacred by theChristian ,Muslim andJewish religions. Following a decisive British victory at the Battle of Megiddo theOttoman Empire formally surrendered on30 October ,1918 , [Biger, 2004, p. 53.] leaving the British in complete control of Palestine.Headquarters of the Police in Jerusalem were initially set up in the
Russian Compound , alongJaffa Road , where Assistant Provost Marshall was assisted by the Military Police. Initially Palestine was administered in the southern district of theOccupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA). The Palestine Police was founded in earnest with the establishment in July 1920 of civilian administration of the British Mandate under high commissioner Herbert Samuel.The first Police Commander was Lt. Col. P.B. Bramley, O.B.E., with the title of Director of Public Security and with the rank of Commandant of Police and Prisons. The police force at the time consisted of 18 British Officers supported by 55 Palestinian Officers and 1,144 rank and file, whose duties were described as:
"Besides fulfilling the ordinary duties of a constabulary, such as the preservation of law and order and the prevention and detection of crime, act as their numbers will allow as escorts for the protection of tax collectors, serve summonses issued by the judicial authorities, distribute Government notices and escort Government treasure throughout the country."
Legislative authority was granted eight months after-the-fact with the Police Ordinance 1921, though authority was never challenged legally.
The Palestine Gendarmerie
In 1926 the two Gendarmeries were disbanded, their members transferring to the British and Palestinian sections of the Palestine Police while most of the remainder joined a new Corps, the
Transjordan Frontier Force .The riots of 1929
By 1928 the Force had 2,143 officers (all ranks): 321 Jews, 1293 Muslim Arabs and 471 Christian Arabs. [Foreign Policy Association, 1931, p. 291.]
In January 1930,
Herbert Dowbiggin , colonialInspector General of Police ofCeylon , was sent to Palestine to advise on the re-organization of the Palestine Police Force, and his report was submitted in May of that year. It was a highly confidential document which it was considered impossible to publish at the time. [ [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/6bb46bf1877eeb1405256616005e1ef2?OpenDocument League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission] , Minutes of the Meeting held at Geneva from June 9th to June 27th, 1931.] On his advice, the British and Palestine Sections of the Police were reinforced, and deployed so that no important Jewish settlement or group of Jewish farms was without a detachment, with access to sealed armories, furnished with Greener guns. Each colony was provided with a telephone and the road network was improved to give the Police greater mobility. [ [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/c2feff7b90a24815052565e6004e5630?OpenDocument Palestine and Transjordan] , by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Council of the League of Nations, 31 December 1930.]The revolt of 1936-1939
During the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine additional forces were established in Palestine by the British including theJewish Settlement Police ,Jewish Supernumerary Police and theSpecial Night Squads .The Tegart forts
The Colonial Office wanted
Charles Tegart to become Inspector-General of the Force in 1937. He refused but joined SirDavid Petrie in visiting the mandate (December 1937 – January 1938) to advise on dealing with Arab guerrillas. [Jason Tomes, ‘Tegart, Sir Charles Augustus (1881–1946)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36447, accessed 29 May 2007] ]Tegart forts are a style of militarized police "fortress" constructed throughout
Palestine during the British Mandatory period.The forts are named after British police officer and engineer Sir Charles Tegart, who designed them in 1938 based on his experiences in the Indian insurgency. Tens of the reinforced concrete block structures were built to the same basic plan, both along the so-called "
Tegart's wall " of the northern border withLebanon andSyria , and at strategic intersections in the interior of Palestine.Many of them stand to this day, and some continue to be used as jails and police stations. [ [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=79673&d=24&m=3&y=2006 Anton La Guardia] , "Jericho Jail Creates Own Modern History", LA Times, reproduced in Arab News, March 24, 2006 accessed2007-02-28 ]The Force during and after World War II
On
27 May , 1942 the Police became a military force eligible to be deployed on military operations inside Palestine and inSyria andIraq .In 1944 the Police Mobile Force (PMF) was created as a fully militarized strike force, which was part of and under the command of the Palestine Police. Established with 800 British servicemen, who had been on active wartime service in
Italy ,North Africa and Britain, the PMF was organized, trained and equipped along military lines. Members wore 'battle dress' and were trained in a special training depot based inJenin .Sinclair, 2006.]The United Nations Partition Resolution, 1947
By the time of the
1947 UN Partition Plan the British members of the Force alone numbered 4,000. [Karsh, 2003, p. 28.]The end of the Mandate for Palestine
The British mandate over Palestine was due to expire on
15 May 1948 , but Jewish Leadership led by future Prime Minister,David Ben-Gurion , declared independence on14 May . Members of the Palestine Police Force withdrew with the remainder of the British forces in Palestine. However, the influence of the Palestine Police reached its peak after the force was disbanded on15 May as around 1,400 policeman obtained postings elsewhere.Sinclair, 2006.] In particular, aSpecial Constabulary of 500 former Palestine Police was established in Malaya after the state of emergency was declared in June 1948.Sinclair, 2006.] Officers who served in Malaya also transferred toKenya ,Hong Kong andTanganyika .Sinclair, 2006.]Commandants of Police and Inspectors General
*
P. B. Bramley , Commandant of Police, July 1920 - March,1923.
*Arthur Steven Mavrogordato , Commandant of Police, March 1923 - July, 1931. [Agreement Between Palestine and Syria and the Lebanon to Facilitate Good Neighborly Relations in Connection with Frontier Questions, "The American Journal of International Law", Vol. 21, No. 4, Supplement: Official Documents (Oct., 1927), pp. 147-151.]
*R. G. B. Spicer , July, 1931 - November, 1937.
*Alan Saunders , November 1937 - August,1943.
*John Rymer Jones , August 1943 - March 1946.
*W. Nicol Gray , March 1946 - May 1948.Notable members of the Palestine Police Force
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