Albanian State Police Policia e Shtetit Shqiptar
Patch of the State Police
Flag of the State Police
Common name	Policia
Agency overview
Formed	13 January 1913
Preceding agency	Gendarmerie (1925–1939) People's Police (1945–1991)
Employees	~ 10,958[1][2]
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	Albania
Operations jurisdiction	Albania
Size	28,748 km2
Population	2,402,113
Governing body	Government of Albania
Constituting instrument	Law on "State Police"
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Overseen by	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Headquarters	Bajram Curri Boulevard,Tirana
Minister responsible	Ervin Hoxha,Minister
Agency executive	Ilir Proda[3],Director General
Website
asp.gov.al

TheAlbanian State Police (Albanian:Policia e Shtetit) is the national police and law enforcement agency which operates throughout theRepublic of Albania. The collapse of theCommunist system and the establishment of political pluralism post-1991 brought important changes to the structure of the Albanian Police. The Ministry of Public Order and the General Directorate of Police were established in April 1991, and the new law of July 1991 established the Public Order Police. Nearly 80% of police manpower, i.e. personnel who had served under the previous system, were replaced by new recruits. On 4 November 1991, the Albanian Police was accepted as a member ofInterpol.

The originalAlbanian Police was founded on 13 January 1913 by the government ofIsmail Qemali, Albania's firstprime minister.^[4]

Following the collapse of the Albanian economy in January–February 1997 in the wake of the implosion ofthe Ponzi pyramid banking schemes promoted by the government,^[5] increasing insurgency in early March led to the Police and Republican Guard deserting en masse because it became clear they were unlikely to be paid, leaving their armouries unlocked,^[6] which were promptly looted by parties unknown, believed to mostly have been the local crime bodies and self-appointed militias: many of the weapons eventually surfaced in the ethnic fighting in Kosovo.

The resulting anarchy led a number of nations to use military forces to evacuate citizens,^[7][8] culminating in the UN authorisingOperation Alba ("Daybreak"), a short-term military stabilisation force led by the Italian Army, tasked with facilitating the repatriation of foreigners and laying the foundations for another International Organisation to undertake the longer-term stabilisation. The political debate eventually settled in Europe within the body responsible for the defence diplomatic coordination of the Continent, the Council of the Western European Union. In a 2-hour meeting which convened at 1400 hrs on 2 May 1997,^[9] the WEU Council decided on the immediate establishment of the Multinational Advisory Police Element, sending a pathfinder officer, a Norwegian Police Colonel, the same evening.The Italian force in Operation Alba predicated the Command structure of MAPE passing into the Italian Carabinieri, General Pietro Pistolese, previously commanding the Genoa region, bringing his team with him. Four phases followed, assessment, reconstruction, support of the Albanian Police control during the Kosovo Crisis, and finally build-down and handback in early 2001, which was somewhat accelerated ahead of the transfer of the WEU's operational responsibilities to the Council of the EU on 30 June 2001. The reconstruction principally involved the reconstruction of the Judicial system and the training of Police, but the Finance section also accommodated economic specialists acting as the principal feedback into the correction of the Judicial system. The Command Team later formed the core of theEuropean Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah from 2005 onwards.

According to a survey produced in 2009 for theUnited States Agency for International Development Albanian's perception of the police was as follows:^[10]

• On a scale of 0–100 with 0 being Very Honest and 100 being Very Corrupt, Policemen were given a score of 63.1 points
• When asked to what extent the police help to fight corruption, 0 being Not at All and 100 being Helps a Lot, the Police were given a score of 45.5
• When asked about trust in institutions, 0 being No Trust at All and 100 being Trust a Lot, the Police were given a score of 47.8
• When asked if during the previous year they had been asked for a bribe 7.8% said Yes
• "When asked how they were treated by the police, the proportion of respondents that replied "Poorly" or "Very poorly" was 26.6%, a decrease of 10.9 percentage points from 37.5% in 2005"

Given that this was within eight years of the departure of the MAPE rebuilding mission, great concern must be expressed about the capacity of the police force to maintain the legal norms required of an aspirant EU State.

From 2014 to 2016, the Albanian State Police conducted several operations in criminally active regions, such asLazarat, to restore public confidence and encourage support for law enforcement actions. In June 2014, approximately 800police officers raided Lazarat, a village notorious for large-scalecannabis cultivation, seizing over 10 tonnes ofmarijuana.^[11]

During this period,body cameras became an integral tool for the police, extensively used in drug busts and high-profile operations. In February 2016, body cameras were installed on police uniforms to improve police behavior and deter bribery.^[12] However, the initiative to use body cameras began to decline due to high operating and maintenance costs, as well as time constraints, ultimately leading to their discontinuation for field officers.

In response to ongoing challenges, theMinistry of Interior introduced the Public Order Strategy 2015–2020, accompanied by the Action Plan 2015–2017. This comprehensive strategy aimed to modernize the Albanian State Police and align it withEuropean Union standards. Key objectives included enhancing transparency and accountability, improving infrastructure, integrating advanced technologies into police operations, and building partnerships between the police and the public through community policing initiatives.^[13]

The 2020s marked significant advancements in the operations of the Albanian State Police, particularly in tourism management. Between 2022 and 2024, theBorder & Migration Department, especially the Border & Migration Police Team stationed atTirana International Airport, effectively managed a yearly influx of 7 to 12 million passengers entering the country. This accomplishment highlighted the department’s efficiency and contribution to Albania’s growing tourism sector.^[14]

In 2015, the State Police underwent reorganizational reforms which were expected to continue for several years.^[15] It implemented a new hierarchical structure composed of nine hierarchic ranks.^[16][13]

	Director				Commissioner
Albanian Police[16][13]
	Chief director Drejtues Madhor	Senior director Drejtues i Lartë	First director Drejtues i Parë	Director Drejtues	Chief commissioner Kryekomisar	Commissioner Komisar	Sub- commissioner Nënkomisar	Inspector Inspektor	Cadet Kursantë

Patch	Branch unit
	Policia e Rendit The Order Police is tasked to deal with issues of Public Order, assist and help local population.
	Policia Kufitare dhe Migracionit The Border Police is in charge of migration and border control.
	Policia Rrugore The Road Police administers road safety and Enforces Traffic Regulations.
	FNSH The Rapid Intervention Force is the quick intervention unit dealing mostly with cases of violent riots, special operations, etc.
	Shqiponjat The Eagles are a rapid intervention unit that handles domestic criminal activities.
	RENEA The Department of Neutralization of Armed Elements is the maincounter-terrorism and critical incident response unit.
	DFPO Directorate of the Special Operational Force is the main Criminal Police Special Force similar to RENEA.

Albanian State Police has a lot Communist era equipment still left in storage, which some are still in use today. However, since 2014 theMinistry of Interior has been actively modernizing the State Police's uniforms, vehicles and weaponry, introducing newer modern equipment to replace their Communist era equipment.

The Albanian State Police uniforms have undergone several changes since 1991. Some visible changes to their uniforms and equipments are shown below:

Since 2017 Government of Albania has been contracting with multiple countries, purchasing brand new weapons to replace their old Communist era weapons. The listed weaponry of ASP below, shows all of the Weapons used and currently used by ASP since 2010.

Model	Origin	Type	Status
TT-33	Soviet Union	Semi-automatic pistol	Retired
Makarov PM
Glock 17	Austria		In service
Beretta 92	Italy
Beretta PX4 Storm
Beretta APX
Heckler & Koch MP5	Germany	Sub-machine gun
Heckler & Koch UMP
Heckler & Koch MP7
AKM	Soviet Union	Assault rifle
ASh-82	Albania
Beretta ARX 160	Italy
HS Produkt VHS	Croatia
Heckler & Koch G36	Germany
Heckler & Koch HK417		Sniper rifle
Sako TRG M10	Finland
Sako TRG-42
RPK machine gun	Soviet Union	Machine gun
RPD machine gun

Plenty of vehicles have been bought from theAlbanian Government, what is most surprising is the diversity when purchasing vehicles. While many police forces around the world, usually tend to stick with 2-3 car brands in their fleets, Albania has been known to have numerous car brands in their police fleets, with the most popular car brand beingHyundai. Here is a full list of the vehicles used and currently used by Albanian State Police since 2010.

Vehicle	Type	Country	Status
Aprilia RS660	Motorcycle	Italy	In-Service
Ford Focus	Car	United States	In-Service
Ford Transit Custom	Mini-Van	United States	In-Service
Chevrolet Aveo	Car	United States	Out of Service
Volkswagen e-Golf	Car	Germany	In-Service
Volkswagen Transporter	Van	Germany	In-Service
Hyundai Accent	Car	Japan	Out of Service
Hyundai Santa Fe	Car	Japan	In-Service
Hyundai i800	Van	Japan	In-Service
Hyundai Kona	Car	Japan	In-Service
Hyundai Tucson	Car	Japan	In-Service
Dacia Sandero	Car	France	Out of Service
BMW 5 Series	Car	Germany	In-Service
BMW R 1250 RT	Motorcycle	Germany	In-Service
Mercedes-Benz GLC 63 Coupe	Car	Germany	In-Service
Mercedes-Benz E-Class	Car	Germany	In-Service
Mercedes-Benz GLA	Car	Germany	In-Service
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter	Van	Germany	In-Service
Audi A6	Car	Germany	In-Service
Škoda Octavia	Car	Czech Republic	In-Service
Iveco VM 90	Utility Vehicle	Italy	In-Service
Land Rover Defender4x4	Utility Vehicle	United Kingdom	In-Service
Land Rover Discovery	Car	United Kingdom	In-Service
Mil Mi-8	Helicopter	Soviet Union	In-Service
Bell 212	Helicopter	United States	In-Service
AS350B	Helicopter	France	In-Service
Zodiac Nautic	Boat	France	In-Service

• Law enforcement in Albania
• General Directorate of Civil Emergencies
• Sigurimi
• Albanian police raids MEK camps

• National police forces
• Law enforcement in Albania
• National Central Bureaus of Interpol

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