Similar forces exist in most European countries. TheEuropean Gendarmerie Force is a structure, aligned with theEuropean Union, that facilitates joint operations. A similar concept to gendarmerie exists inRussia in the form ofinternal troops, which are present in manyCIS states.
Historically, the spelling in English wasgendarmery, but now the French spellinggendarmerie is more common. TheOxford English Dictionary (OED) usesgendarmery as the principal spelling, whereasMerriam-Webster usesgendarmerie as the principal spelling.
As a result of their duties within the civilian population, gendarmeries are sometimes described as "paramilitary" rather than "military" forces (especially in the English-speaking world where policing is rarely associated with military forces) although this description rarely corresponds to their official status and capabilities. Gendarmes are very rarely deployed in military situations, except in humanitarian deployments abroad.
A gendarmerie may come under the authority of a ministry of defence (e.g.Algeria,Netherlands andPoland), a ministry of the interior (e.g.Argentina,Romania,Turkey andUkraine) or even both ministries at once (e.g.Chile, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain).[5] Generally there is some coordination between ministries of defence and the interior over the use of gendarmes. In addition, some gendarmeries can be part of a civilian police force, such as theIsrael Border Police or "Magav", which is the gendarmerie branch of the civilianIsrael Police.
A few forces which are no longer considered military retain the title "gendarmerie" for reasons of tradition. For instance, the French language title of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police isGendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) (i.e., Royal Gendarmerie of Canada) because this force traditionally had some military-style functions (although separate from the Canadian Army), had been awardedbattle honours and was formally accorded the status of a regiment ofdragoons in 1921 (now discontinued). TheArgentine National Gendarmerie is a military force in terms of training, identity and public perception, and was involved in combat in theFalklands War; however, it is classified as a "security force" not an "armed force", to exercise jurisdiction over the civilian population under Argentine law.
Since different countries may make different use of institutional terms such as "gendarmerie", there are cases in which the term may become confusing. For instance, in the French-speakingCantons of Switzerland the "gendarmeries" are the uniformed civil police (see:Gendarmerie (Switzerland)). In Chile, the word "gendarmerie" refers for historic reasons to the prison service (the "Chilean Gendarmerie"), while the actual gendarmerie force is called the "Carabineros".
In some cases, a police service's military links are ambiguous and it can be unclear whether a force should be defined as a gendarmerie (e.g. Mexico'sFederal Police, Brazil'sMilitary Police, or the formerRhodesia'sBritish South Africa Police until 1980). Some historical military units, such asSouth West Africa'sKoevoet, were only defined as police for political reasons.[6] InRussia, the modernNational Guard (successor of theInternal Troops of Russia) are military units with quasi-police duties but historically, different bodies withinImperial Russia'sSpecial Corps of Gendarmes performed a variety of functions as an armed rural constabulary, urban riot control units, frontier guards, intelligence agents and political police. Prior to the creation of theIrish Free State in 1922, most policing was based on theRoyal Irish Constabulary – an armed force which was housed in barracks. The RIC's drill was based on that of the British Army's light infantry and its officers were routinely armed with revolvers and carbine rifles and had a counter-insurgency role. This was very much a gendarmerie, unlike the unarmed police constables of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and the RIC's counterpart police forces in Great Britain. TheGarda Síochána of the Irish Free State, which replaced the RIC, was an unarmed civil police force with no paramilitary role, similar to the British style of policing.
InChina, after numerous reorganizations and transfers of control between thePLA and theMPS, thePeople's Armed Police, a gendarmerie service, was created on 19 June 1982. The establishment of the PAP highlighted the efforts to increase the professionalization of the security apparatus, as well as the absorption of numerous PLA demobilized personnel, in the wake of growing unrest.[citation needed]
In 2014, the MexicanFederal Police, a heavily armed force which has many attributes of a gendarmerie, created a new seventh branch of service called the National Gendarmerie Division. The new force would initially number 5,000 personnel and was created with the assistance of the French gendarmerie.[7] This was later dissolved in 2020 with the abolition of the Federal Police and it's replacement with the National Guard.
In comparison to civilian police forces, gendarmeries may provide a more formally disciplined force whose military capabilities (e.g., armoured group in France witharmoured personnel carriers) make them more capable of dealing with armed groups and with all types of violence. On the other hand, the necessity of a more stringent selection process for military service, especially in terms of physical prowess and health, restricts the pool of potential recruits in comparison to those from which a civilian police force could select.
The growth and expansion of gendarmerie units worldwide has been linked to an increasing reluctance by some governments to use military units typically entrusted with external defence for combating internal threats.[1] A somewhat related phenomenon has been the formation of paramilitary units which fall under the authority of civilian police agencies. Since these are not strictly military forces, however, they are not considered gendarmerie.[8]
In France, the gendarmerie is in charge of rural areas and small towns (typically less than 10,000 inhabitants) which represent 95% of the territory and close to 50% of the population. Besides its territorial organization, it has crowd and riot control units (theGendarmerie Mobile, along with some corresponding units in the civilian police), counter-terrorism and hostage rescue (GIGN, again along with some corresponding units in the civilian police), maritime surveillance, police at sea andcoast guard (Gendarmerie maritime), control and security at airports and air traffic police (Gendarmerie des transports aériens), official buildings guard, honorary services and protection of thePresident (Garde Républicaine), mountain rescue (Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne) and security ofnuclear weapons sites.
The use of military organisations to police civilian populations is common to many time periods and cultures. Being a French concept, theFrench Gendarmerie has been the most influential model for such an organisation.
Many countries that were once under French rule and influence have a gendarmerie. Italy,Belgium,Luxembourg andAustria have had gendarmeries throughNapoleonic influence for instance but, while Italy still has the Italian equivalent known as the Carabinieri, with a second more specialized agency called Guardia di Finanza, Belgium and Austria's gendarmeries have merged with the civil police (in, respectively, 2001 and 2005). Many former French colonies, especially in Africa, also have gendarmeries. The DutchRoyal Marechaussee was created by King William I to replace the French Gendarmerie after French rule ended.
The national police force of Canada, theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police is referred to in French as the Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC). However the RCMP is a mainly civilian organisation withinPublic Safety Canada. It is not part of theCanadian Department of National Defence, but does have aparamilitary wing and they have been awarded the status of a regiment of dragoons, with a military battle standard displaying their battle honours following service in World War I. Those honours include Northwest Canada, South Africa, The Great War, and the Second World War.
A common gendarmerie symbol is a flaminggrenade, first used as insignia by the French force.
^abLioe, Kim Eduard (2010).Armed Forces in Law Enforcement Operations? – The German and European Perspective (1989 ed.). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 52–57.ISBN978-3-642-15433-1.
^Kumar, Kuldeep (2016).Police and Counterinsurgency: The Untold Story of Tripura's COIN Campaign. Sage Publications India. pp. 90–94.ISBN978-9351507475.
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