The Polish Military Gendarmerie is a
military police force that traces its history to the communist-era
Military Internal Service (),
World War II-era
Service for Protection of the Uprising (), 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. In 2007, the Military Gendarmerie was granted partner status to the
European Gendarmerie Force, and since 2015 become a full member.
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. In urban areas, local ŻW 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. It also appears that ŻW has begun to augment the police and fire services in search operations – ŻW equipment and personnel have begun to be deployed to search for missing persons. In the past, ŻW units have been regularly deployed for this purpose to search for deserters and conscription-avoiders and much experience remains in this area. Most visibly to the public eye however is the expansion of use of ŻW units in protection of public events and gatherings. ŻW 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).
police car from the Żandarmeria Wojskowa. ==Structure==