Israel Police

Honor guard of the Israeli Police and Border Guard for Israel's Memorial Day

The Israel Police was established in 1948.[11] It is responsible for public security, maintaining public order, securing public events and rallies, dismantling suspicious objects and explosives (EOD), riot and crowd control, law enforcement, crime fighting, detective work, covert operations against drug networks, investigating suspects, road traffic control, operating the Civil Guard, handling civilian complaints, handling youth violence, educational campaigns.[12]

The Israel Police are a professional force, with some 35,000 persons on the payroll. There are also 70,000 Civil Guard volunteers who contribute time to assist officers in their own communities.[13]

The police are divided into the following main divisional groups:[14]

Israeli riot police, Yasam

Patrol Car, Škoda Octavia II 2009

Israel Police bomb disposal operators

The Israel Police is divided into six regional district commands:

• Central District
• Southern District
• Northern District
• Judea & Samaria District
• Tel Aviv District
• Jerusalem District

• The Border Police ("MAGAV") is the combat arm of the police and mainly serves in unquiet areas – the borders, the West Bank, and the rural countryside. The Border Police has both professional officers on payroll and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conscripts who serve in the Border Police as their mandatory three-year service in the IDF.[15]
• The Yamam (acronym for Special Police Unit) is the police elite counter terror hostage rescue unit. It is known as one of the most experienced and specialized in the world. The unit has taken part in hundreds of operations in and outside the borders of Israel.[16]
• The Yasam is the on-call counter-terror unit in each district. The units, originally started as Riot Police, were called upon to assist with counter-terror operations, as well as dismantling settlements in accordance with the Israeli court decisions. It has gained a reputation of being the most elite force on call and ready at any time, although charged by both Israeli settlers and Palestinians of using excess brutality.[17] The Yasam has sub-units of Rapid Response Motorcycle Units.[18]
• The National Traffic Police is the police's traffic enforcement arm. It is divided into five regional districts and a national patrol unit.
• The Civil Guard is the police's force of part-time volunteer officers, who comprise the majority of Israeli police officers. Civil Guard volunteers have limited police powers.
• Lahav 433 is the police's unit for investigations of national crimes and corruption.
• The Internal Investigations Department is responsible for investigating wrongdoing by police personnel. It is officially independent from the police and under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry.[19]
• The Israel Police Bomb Disposal Unit is the bomb squad of the police. It deals with operations and investigations which involve suspicious objects, explosive devices or military ordnance.

Israeli police boat on the Sea of Galilee

An Israeli Police Bell 206 helicopter

Each policeman is armed with a pistol (handgun) which he or she usually also carries while off-duty. Also, each patrol car must have at least one long-arm (i.e. rifle). Police volunteers are usually armed with an M1 Carbine, which they return to the police's armory after they finish their duty (they do not take the rifle home, but may sign one out for escorting field trips, etc.). Volunteers who have a gun license may use their own personal handgun as personal defense weapon for their police duty, under the condition that the gun and ammunition type is authorized by the police (9 mm). Common pistols owned and carried by volunteers include Glock and CZ-75 designs.[20]

Specialized armaments such as automatic rifles, bolt action rifles and non-lethal weapons are assigned according to activity and not on personal basis. Border Guard policemen, however, carry an M16 or M4 rifle as a standard personal weapon and can carry it home while off-duty (like regular infantry in the Israel Defense Forces).[21]

• July 6, 2004: Received an award from the Anti-Defamation League for its counter terror efforts and for passing seminars of counter-terror measures to FBI and local USA police.,[22][23]
• In October 2010 the elite unit YAMAM of the Israeli Police won the "Urban Shield" SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office setting a new record in the competition.[24]
• In October 2011 the elite unit YAMAM of the Israeli Police won the "Urban Shield" SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office again.[25]

A 2014 analysis by Yesh Din questioned the professionalism of the police force of the Judea & Samaria District (also known as the West Bank) as only 7.4% of reported attacks by Israeli citizens on Palestinian persons and property had led to indictments.[26] In 2015, several senior officers resigned due to criminal investigations or accusations of sexual harassment of employees. Five police at the rank of major general resigned in the preceding 18 months amid scandal.[27] The February 2015 announcement that another senior Israel Police officer was under investigation for sexual harassment was criticized by women's and rape victim advocacy groups, who held protests at police headquarters in a number of cities.[28]

In 2015, Haaretz reported that 30% of police are women, but there are no women who have reached the rank of major general.[29]

• Lahav 433
• Palestinian Civil Police Force
• Administration of Border Crossings, Population and Immigration
• Law enforcement by country

• English website
• Diagram – organizational structure