Palestine National Police
الشرطة الوطنية الفلسطينية Palestinian National Police | |
Standard patrol vehicle of the Palestine National Police | |
Formed | 1 Dec 1948 |
Type | Law enforcement |
Employees • constables |
90,238 71,440 |
Country | Arab Union |
Republic | Palestine |
Constituting instrument | • National Police Act |
Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction |
Population | 31.1 million |
General nature | • Civilian police |
Headquarters | Nablus Road 100 Jerusalem, Palestine 1201-353 |
Stations | 118 |
Director-general | Samakh Najib |
Responsible to | • Minister of Interior |
The Palestine National Police (Arabic: الشرطة الوطنية الفلسطينية ash-shurṭah al-waṭanīyah al-falasṭīnīyah) is the principal law enforcement agency of the Palestinian Arab Republic, one of the 20 republics (federated states) of the Arab Union. The largest agency controlled by Palestine's Minister of Interior, the Palestine National Police is responsible for all policing and related law enforcement operations within the republic, with the exception of those few matters automatically coming under federal jurisdiction.
In addition to multiple specialised directorates (including the Criminal Investigation Directorate, Forensics Directorate, Criminal Intelligence Directorate, Air Support Directorate and Anticorruption Directorate), the main apparatus of police consists of the Central Directorate, responsible for republic-wide, other large scale and/or high-profile operations, and the Patrol Directorate (the largest directorate), responsible for local policing. The Patrol Directorate is divided into district offices which are further subdivided into detachments; each district office serves as the police headquarters within a given administrative district, with each detachment responsible for a physically defined patrol area.
The Palestine National Police has its headquarters on Nablus Road in the Sheikh Jarrah borough of north central Jerusalem, which also serves as the Central West Bank district office and Central Jerusalem detachment. Samakh Najib has served as Director-General of the Palestine National Police since December 2010.
Organisation[edit | edit source]
The Palestine National Police is organised as a directorate of the Ministry of Interior of Palestine, and uses the same ranking system as all other civilian police agencies (see police ranks of the Arab Union). All organs ultimately fall under the authority of the central apparatus which also has a division responsible for issues of national jurisdiction; however, regional jurisdiction is granted exclusively to departments within one of the regional divisions, with the central organs responsible for administrative matters and directly handling only policing at the national-republican level. Below is an outline of the structure of the Palestine National Police:
Main Directorate[edit | edit source]
- General Inspectorate
- Operational Support Department
- Rapid Deployment Unit
- Tactical Support Unit
- Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit
- Criminal Investigation Department
- Criminal Investigation Unit "A"
- Criminal Investigation Unit "B"
- Criminal Investigation Unit "T"
- Forensic Identification Unit
- Forensic Science Unit "Th"
- Forensic Science Unit "J"
- Financial Forensics Unit
- Forensic Psychology Unit
- Major Crimes Investigation Unit "H"
- Major Crimes Investigation Unit "Kh"
- Accident & Collision Investigation Unit
- Traffic Safety Unit
- Administrative & Logistical Support Department
- Health & Safety Division
- Personnel Division
- Human Resources Department
- Training Academy
- Palestine National Academy of Criminology
- Finance & Supply Division
- Hardware Maintenance Department
- IT Department
- Accounting & Budget Department
- Legal Division
- Legal Advisor
- Claims Department
National Directorate[edit | edit source]
- National Division
- Public Security Department
- Public Surveillance Unit
- Operational Security Unit
- Riot Control Unit
- Airport Security Department
- airport detachment
- Public Security Department
- Criminal Division
- Criminal Inspectorate
- Narcotics Department
- Organised Crime Department
- Special Operations Division
- Rapid Reaction Force
Divisional Directorate[edit | edit source]
- North Regional Division
- Central Regional Division
- Mediterranean Regional Division
- West Bank Regional Division
- Suez Canal Regional Division
- Sinai Regional Division