Milicja Obywatelska
Encyclopedia
Milicja Obywatelska was a state police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 institution in the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

. It was created in 1944 by Soviet-sponsored PKWN, effectively replacing the pre-war police force. In 1990 it was transformed back into Policja
Policja
Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic , and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and ca. 12.000 civilian employees...

.

The term milicja had been adapted from the cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...

 term, "militsiya
Militsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...

," used in several communist countries. The term is derived from ‘militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

’, which in turn claims its etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

 from the concept of a military force composed of ordinary citizens. Contrary to implied meaning, in most cases it represented rather a state-controlled force, used to exert political repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....

 on the citizens.

Under both communist and post communist governments, the Polish police system has traditionally operated under the auspices of national authority. Starting at the end of World War II, Poland, although never fully occupied by the Soviet Union, fell under the spell of its eastern neighbor, especially in 1948 when the country's turn toward Stalinism brought the beginning of totalitarian rule.

Poland formed the Polish Citizen's Militia, a kind of police force, at the end of 1944, while Poland was still in a theater of war, but just before Europe became divided. The citizen's militia would remain the predominant means of policing in Poland until 1990. The highly centralized nature of the militia and its lack of any great power placed it largely under the control of the Security Bureau, which used it to instill fear in the local populace.The training offered at Legionowo was conducted in a barracks-style setting in buildings from the communist era. The training is conducted in the military style but without the U.S. practice of physical fitness in the morning, as Polish police officers are expected to maintain their physical fitness on their own. Some of the classes were on the cutting edge, such as their indoor firearms training.It was divided into a Public order and Traffic Militia (Highway Patrol
Highway patrol
A highway patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is primarily concerned with such duties.Duties of highway patrols or traffic...

), Criminal Investigations (major crimes, forensics), Investigations Milicja and a Infrastructure Security section (security of important buildings, installations, etc.). There were regional, district, city and local detachments of the force.

Transportation

The most common types were FSO Warszawa, Polski Fiat 125p
Polski Fiat 125p
The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and...

, FSO Polonez
FSO Polonez
The FSO Polonez is a Polish motor vehicle produced from 1978 to 2002. The car name comes from the Polish dance, polonaise.-Background:The Polonez is a rebodied Polski Fiat 125p that Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych built under license from Fiat...

, and Nysa Van.

See also

  • ZOMO
    ZOMO
    Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej , were paramilitary-police formations during the Communist Era, in the People's Republic of Poland...

  • Eastern Bloc politics
    Eastern Bloc politics
    Eastern Bloc politics followed the Red Army's occupation of much of eastern Europe at the end of World War II and the Soviet Union's installation of Soviet-controlled communist governments in the Eastern Bloc through a process of bloc politics and repression...

  • Służba Bezpieczeństwa
  • Ministry of Public Security (Poland)
  • Militsiya
    Militsiya
    Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...

  • Policja
    Policja
    Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic , and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and ca. 12.000 civilian employees...

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