• The Security and Community Policing Branch is responsible for ordinary law enforcement tasks such as conducting patrols in public and responding to emergency calls. • The
Israel Border Police ("
MAGAV") is the combat arm of the police and mainly serves in specific areas – the borders, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. It is responsible for law enforcement in the rural countryside and for putting down civil unrest, particularly rioting. It participates in counter-terrorism operations. The Border Police has both professional officers on payroll and conscripts who serve in the Border Police as their mandatory three-year national service. It also has volunteer personnel. The Israel Border Police has four tactical units: •
Yamam (National Counter-Terrorism Unit) - the police's counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit. It is known as one of the most experienced and specialized units of its kind in the world. The unit has taken part in hundreds of operations in and outside the borders of Israel. •
Yamas (
Mista'arvim Unit) - a counter-terrorist commando unit. Its operators are trained in conducting operations undercover, disguised as civilians. Although officially part of the Border Police, it is directly subordinate to
Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service. • Samag (Tactical Counter-Crime and Counter-Terror Rapid Deployment Unit) • Matilan (Intelligence Gathering and Infiltrations Interception Unit) • The
Yasam (Special Patrol Unit) is a
riot police and crowd control unit, and also participates in counter-terror operations. The unit, originally started as Riot Police, was called upon to assist with counter-terror operations, as well as dismantling settlements in accordance with Israeli court decisions. The Yasam has sub-units of Rapid Response Motorcycle Units. • The
National Traffic Police is the police's traffic enforcement arm. It is divided into five regional districts and a national patrol unit. • The
Civil Guard is the police's force of part-time volunteer officers, who comprise the majority of Israeli police officers. It is officially a division of the Security and Community Policing Branch. Civil Guard volunteers have limited police powers. They carry out patrols in public, are trained to provide the initial response to any security situation they encounter until regular police forces arrive, and partake in traffic control. The Civil Guard also has search and rescue teams. •
Lahav 433 is the police's unit for investigations of serious crimes and corruption. • The Police SIGINT Unit is responsible for
signals intelligence (SIGINT) activities. • The Dog Handling Unit is responsible for operating
police dogs. • The Police Aerial Unit operates police helicopters. • The Police Marine Unit is responsible for operating boats and has police divers. • The
Israel Police Bomb Disposal Unit is the bomb squad of the police. It deals with operations and investigations which involve suspicious objects, explosive devices or military ordnance. • The Seif Unit is responsible for tackling crime in the
Israeli-Arab population. • The Yoav Unit is responsible for enforcement of land use and construction regulations in the
Negev, particularly among Bedouin communities. • The Division of Identification and Forensic Science is responsible for forensic science in investigations. It has laboratories dealing with latent fingerprint analysis, arson investigation,
mass spectrometry and explosive analysis, digital evidence, DNA and other areas of biology, firearms, and
questioned document examination. • The Internal Investigations Department is responsible for investigating wrongdoing by police personnel. It is officially independent from the police and under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry. ==Weapons and equipment==