Misplaced Pages

Iraqi Police الشرطة العراقية Shurta/Polis
Iraqi Federal Police SSI
Abbreviation	IP
Agency overview
Formed	9 January 1922 (1922-01-09)
Preceding agency	Iraqi Police
Employees	397,264
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Iraq
Governing body	Ministry of Interior (Iraq)
General nature	Gendarmerie Local civilian police Secret police

The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, and it is commanded by the reformed Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. "IP" refers to the Iraqi Police, and "ISF" to the broader Iraqi security forces, In 1922, the General Police Directorate was established under an Iraqi administration. The current commander of the Federal Police Forces is Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat.

History

The current Iraqi Police has some links with the pre-war Iraqi police service, which was professional and low in repression priority. Therefore, the police were expected to remain cohesive and to be a useful instrument after the invasion as well.

It was intended to form the basis for the police force of the new Iraq, but the civil disorder caused this project to be abandoned. Following the emergency stipend payment, some police came back especially in Baghdad and the U.S. Army military police conducted emergency training. At the same time, in the south the British forces began to establish local police forces in coordination with Shiite religious leaders.

In the north, Kurdish security forces did not experience any interruption, and in Mosul a thousand former police officers were hired by Major General David Petraeus in order to maintain the public order.

In the meantime, the Coalition Provisional Authority worked with the renewed Ministry of Interior in order to purge Baathist officials (7,000 police officers fired by Bernard Kerik only in Baghdad) and to establish a police forces in short terms. In the first four months, the first training course was launched and over 4,000 officers were trained. In 2003 recruitment, applicants were mostly former soldiers and police officers who served under the Baathist rule. At the end of 2003, Iraqi Police formally totalled 50,000 officers.

Organization and oversight

In 2009 the Iraqi Police was under the command of Major General Hussein Jassim Alawadi. The Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I) was a United States Central Command organisation tasked to train, mentor and equip all Iraqi civilian security forces. MNSTC-I also had the goal of training their counterparts in the Iraqi government of Iraq to assume their role. MNSTC-I was dissolved in 2010.

The Iraqi Police had three main branches:

• Iraqi Police Service: Uniformed organisation tasked with the general patrol of Iraq's cities and incident response
• Federal Police: Paramilitary organisation designed to bridge the gap between the police and the army. It responds to domestic incidents beyond the capabilities of the IPS, but not severe enough for the Iraqi Army. The FP originated as the Special Police (SP) on Aug. 15, 2004 to provide national rapid-response capability to counter armed insurgency, large-scale civil disobedience and riots. In 2005, the Ministry of the Interior consolidated its ad-hoc Police Battalions into the Emergency Response Unit (a SWAT unit), the 8th Police mechanised brigade (3 motorised battalions), the Public Order Division (4 brigades/12 battalions), and the Special Police Commando Division (4 brigades/12 battalions). It became the Iraq National Police (NP) March 30, 2006, and on August 1, 2009, the NP was renamed as the Federal Police.

By 2012-13 there were four Federal Police Divisions, spread out around the country. The 1st and 2nd Motorized Divisions were headquartered in Baghdad and created out of the former Commando Division and the Public Order Division. The 3rd Federal Police Division, under the auspices of the Ninewa Operational Command with its headquarters in Mosul, collapsed in the ISIS 2014 Northern Iraq offensive by 9 June. The 4th Division was headquartered in Basra. Some reinforcing units, such as the 9th Brigade, 4th Federal Police Division, also withered once deployed to the front lines.

• Supporting forces: Remaining supporting organisations, primarily the Department of Border Enforcement (tasked with securing Iraq's borders and ports of entry) and the Iraqi Prison Service. The Facilities Protection Service protects buildings owned by the Iraqi government.

Uniforms

The Iraqi Police Service uniform consists of a long-sleeved, light-blue shirt with a blue brassard on the left arm with an embroidered Iraqi flag and "Iraqi Police" embossed in English and Arabic, black or light-blue trousers or blue combat trousers similar to those of the United States Navy. They wear a dark-blue baseball cap with "POLICE" in white letters or body armour and a PASGT helmet.

Federal Police wear a black-and-blue camouflage uniform similar to the U.S. Army Combat Uniform Universal Camouflage Pattern, which includes a baseball cap, body armour and PASGT helmet. FP uniforms are issued when an officer has completed training; officers not yet trained wear a variety of uniforms, including woodland camouflage. FP officers are organised into brigades which cover geographic areas. Rank insignia for the IP is nearly identical to that of the Iraqi Army, except that the shoulder boards are usually dark blue.

Ranks

Officers ranks and ranks of NCOs and constables are the same that of Iraqi army, from highest to lowest, with symbol on epaulette, as below:

Insignia

Officers

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Iraqi Police
	General		Lieutenant General		Major General		Brigadier		Colonel		Lieutenant Colonel		Major			Captain			First Lieutenant			Lieutenant

Warrant Officers

	Warrant Officer
Iraqi Police
	Warrant Officer (1st Class)	Warrant Officer (2nd Class)	Warrant Officer (3rd Class)	Warrant Officer (4th Class)	Warrant Officer (5th Class)	Warrant Officer (6th Class)	Warrant Officer (7th Class)

Other ranks

	Constabulary ranks
Iraqi Police
	Staff Seargent	Seargent	Corporal	Policeman 1st Class	Policeman

Controversy

The Iraqi Police has faced a number of problems since it was reformed by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the fall of Baghdad. It became the target of fighters from inside and outside Iraq; thousands of officers have been killed by gunfire and bombings by Iraqi insurgents, foreign terrorists and, in some cases, friendly fire from Coalition troops. An estimated 4,250 Iraqi police officers were killed from January 2005 and 4 March 2006. Due to high unemployment in Iraq, many young Iraqi men have volunteered to join the police forces. A number of recruits have been killed by suicide bombers and suicide car bombs whilst queueing at police stations.

The IP has also been infiltrated by insurgents, who use access to privileged information, training and weapons for their own motives. Many police stations have been attacked, blown up, had weapons stolen from them and have been occupied by opponents of the Iraqi government; as a result, many police officers have abandoned their posts. As of October 7, 2006, 12,000 Iraqi Police deserted and 4,000 were killed.

On 17 August 2016, a market owner was killed by a police officer after a brawl began when the market owner "refused to back his vehicle" in Baghdad.

Extremism

The Ba'athist regime began to increase the role of extremist Islam in government during the early 1990s, with required religious education in the schools, honor killings and religious committees to punish those deemed in violation of traditional mores (such as adultery, fornication, and homosexuality).

The Iraqi constitution stipulates Islam as the official religion, enacted laws must conform to sharia and provisions for civil rights and liberties are in accordance with public mores. Many members of the Iraqi police and Interior Ministry have ties to the Islamic fundamentalist Badr Brigade, which have been given leeway to punish those suspected of immorality. In Basra, police guarding a local park reportedly made no attempt to stop an armed group from severely beating two women and shooting a male Iraqi friend of theirs to death.

Iraqi government

The Iraqi government has been accused of using (or allowing) the police and other groups to carry out sectarian killings and kidnappings of Sunni Iraqis. In December 2005, US troops found 625 inmates held in "very overcrowded" conditions in a Baghdad Interior Ministry building. Twelve of the prisoners reportedly had signs of torture and malnutrition. The story gave credence to the accusations, sowing further distrust of the police force. A report into the findings at the building was promised by Iraqi president Ibrahim Jaafari at the end of December 2005, but as of 4 May 2006 no report was issued.

The United States Department of State released a 2006 human rights report accusing the Iraqi police of widespread atrocities. In October of that year, the Iraqi government dismantled a police brigade with connections to sectarian death squads. The dismantled brigade was transferred to a US base for retraining. Other police brigades will be investigated for links to death squads.

Strength

The number of police is difficult to estimate, since local police chiefs may exaggerate their numbers to obtain increased funding for their stations, and people drift in and out of service. Although the total Ministry of Interior payroll exceeds 150,000, many are off-duty at any given time. As of mid-2024, the National Police Forces employed about 10,000 officers. The number is somewhat misleading, because one-third to one-half of the NP are on leave at any given time.

Deaths

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani announced that as of December 24, 2005, 12,000 police officers in Iraq died in the line of duty since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Transition teams

Large-scale operations were conducted by coalition forces to assist in policing and train the Iraqi Police (IP) and security forces. Police transition teams (PTTs) are US military-police squads deployed to Iraqi Police stations. The teams conduct joint patrols with the IP, share station defense and gather station information and counter-terrorism intelligence. The joint patrols of the PTTs have helped curb violence, increasing respect for Iraq's police force. These duties were later performed by United States Air Force Security Forces members. An International Police Liaison Officer (IPLO), an experienced US police officer, accompanied most of the transition teams to aid post-academy training of the IP.

National Police Transition Teams (NPTT) are 11-man military transition teams embedded in Iraqi Police units at the battalion, brigade, division and corps levels. These teams are supplied by the US Army and the US Marine Corps. Like the PTTs, each team is assisted by an IPLO and one to six local interpreters.

Equipment

Members of the Iraqi Police use the Glock 19 and HS2000 handgun, and may carry a shotgun, Type 81, or AK-47 rifle on patrol. Iraqi Federal Police have also been seen using the Croatian-made HS Produkt VHS-2 bullpup carbine during military operations against ISIS in northern Iraq. For marine operations, the police are equipped with Safe Boat International 230 T-Top patrol boats.

References

1. Bensahel, Nora; Oliker, Olga; Crane, Keith; Brennan, Richard R. Jr.; Gregg, Heather S. (2008). After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Rand Corporation. p. 121. ISBN 9780833044587.
2. ^ Bensahel, Nora; Oliker, Olga; Crane, Keith; Brennan, Richard R. Jr.; Gregg, Heather S. (2008). After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Rand Corporation. p. 125. ISBN 9780833044587.
3. ^ Bensahel, Nora; Oliker, Olga; Crane, Keith; Brennan, Richard R. Jr.; Gregg, Heather S. (2008). After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Rand Corporation. p. 126. ISBN 9780833044587.
4. Bensahel, Nora; Oliker, Olga; Crane, Keith; Brennan, Richard R. Jr.; Gregg, Heather S. (2008). After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Rand Corporation. p. 124. ISBN 9780833044587.
5. Bensahel, Nora; Oliker, Olga; Crane, Keith; Brennan, Richard R. Jr.; Gregg, Heather S. (2008). After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Rand Corporation. p. 127. ISBN 9780833044587.
6. "Federal Police Commander". Archived from the original on 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
7. "Training the Iraqi National Police | FDD's Long War Journal". 3 July 2007.
8. "Iraqi National Police Renamed Federal Police | United States Forces - Iraq". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Iraqi National Police Renamed Federal Police
9. Cordesman, Anthony; Khazai, Sam (2014-06-12). Shaping Iraq's Security Forces (PDF). Washington DC.: Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
10. http://www.insideiraqipolitics.com/Files/IIPNinawaExcerpts.pdf, page 13.
11. Chivers, C. J. (2014-07-01). "After Retreat, Iraqi Soldiers Fault Officers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
12. "Majority of Iraqi police trained, equipped - United States Forces - Iraq". Archived from the original on 2008-09-17.
13. ^ "Iraq Coalition Casualty Count". Icasualties.org. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
14. "Unemployment High, Future Uncertain in Iraq". ABC News. January 24, 2005. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
15. "Bomber hits Iraq army recruits". BBC News. July 20, 2005. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
16. "IRAQ: INSURGENTS HAVE INFILTRATED POLICE, SAYS SECURITY ADVISER". adnki.com. Archived from the original on 2006-03-17. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
17. "Car bomb hits Iraq police station". BBC News. December 14, 2003. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
18. "Mosque Bombed in Baghdad Attacks". Buzzle.com. Archived from the original on 2004-12-23. Retrieved 2008-02-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
19. Rory McCarthy (December 3, 2004). "Man on a mission". guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
20. "More than 12,000 Iraqi police casualties in 2 years". CNN. October 7, 2006. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
21. "Market owner shot dead by policeman in Baghdad". iraqinews.com. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016.
22. Catherine Philp (March 23, 2005). "Death at 'immoral' picnic in the park". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
23. "New 'torture jail' found in Iraq". BBC News. December 12, 2005. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
24. Brian Knowlton (March 9, 2006). "Iraqi Police Are Tied to Abuses and Deaths, U.S. Review Finds". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
25. "Iraq: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005". U.S. Department of State. March 8, 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
26. "Iraqi police deaths 'hit 12,000'". BBC News. December 24, 2006. Archived from the original on February 14, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
27. "Irački MUP kupio hrvatske pištolje za svoje policajce". 24sata.hr. Archived from the original on 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
28. "81式自动步枪的同门兄弟——1981年式7.62毫米班用机枪". wap.eastday.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20.
29. "Iraq: Security forces fend off Islamic State fighters from Mosul frontline". Ruptly. Retrieved May 24, 2019.

External links

• Iraqi Federal Police official website
• Policing Post-War Iraq: Insurgency, Civilian Police, and the Reconstruction of Society - By Mathieu Deflem and Suzanne Sutphin, published in Sociological Focus, Vol. 39(4), November 2006.
• Iraqi police deaths 'hit 12,000'
• Fixing the Interior Ministry and Police in Iraq USIP September 2007
• PBS FRONTLINE: GANGS OF IRAQ April 17, 2007

v t e Armed groups in the Iraqi conflict
Iraqi government	Iraqi Armed Forces Iraqi Army Iraqi Air Force Iraqi Navy Iraqi security forces Iraqi Police Iraqi Police Service National Police Supporting Forces Facilities Protection Service
Ba'athists	Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order Fedayeen Saddam General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries Al-Awda General Command of the Armed Forces, Resistance and Liberation in Iraq Popular Army New Return Patriotic Front Political Media Organ of the Ba'ath Party Popular Resistance for the Liberation of Iraq Al-Abud Network Free Iraqi Army
Militias and others	Shia Islamic militias Popular Mobilization Forces Mahdi Army Abu Deraa's Mahdi Army faction Badr Organization Sheibani Network Soldiers of Heaven Free Iraqi Forces Special Groups (Iraq) Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Promised Day Brigade Kata'ib Hezbollah Saraya Ansar al-Aqeeda Kata'ib al-Imam Ali Kata'ib Jund al-Imam Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba Saraya al-Jihad Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Forces Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya Quwwat Sahl Ninawa Mukhtar Army Hezbollah Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas Jaysh al-Mu'ammal Liwa Ali al-Akbar Islamic Resistance in Iraq Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Sunni Islamic militias Tribal Mobilization Awakening groups 1920 Revolution Brigades Jaish al-Rashideen Islamic Army in Iraq Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance Hamas of Iraq Harakat Ahrar al-Iraq Kurdish militias Peshmerga Kurdistan Workers' Party Kurdistan Freedom Hawks Asayîşa Êzîdxanê Turkmen militias Iraqi Turkmen Front 16Brigade 52nd Brigade 92nd Brigade Brigade of Imam Hussein Sayyid al-Shuhada Bashir Regiment Assyrian militias Nineveh Plains Nineveh Plain Protection Units Nineveh Plain Forces Qaraqosh Protection Committee Dwekh Nawsha Syriac Military Council Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam Babylon Brigade Yazidi militias Asayîşa Êzîdxanê Êzîdxan Protection Force Sinjar Alliance Sinjar Resistance Units Êzîdxan Women's Units
Insurgents	Nationalist Salafis Mujahideen Army Mujahideen Battalions of the Salafi Group of Iraq Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions Mohammad's Army Salafi Jihadists Al-Mustafa Army in Iraq Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan Black Banner Organization Abu Theeb's group Abu Bakr Al-Salafi Army Hassan Al-Basri Brigades Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah Islamic State Mujahideen Shura Council Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah Al-Qaeda in Iraq Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Shield of Islam Brigade Wakefulness and Holy War White Flags

v t e Iraq topics
History Chronology Ubaid period Hassuna culture Halaf culture Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period Samarra culture Uruk period Jemdet Nasr period Sumer Subartu Akkadian Empire Gutian dynasty Neo-Sumerian Empire Isin-Larsa period First Babylonian Empire Old Assyrian Period Middle Assyrian Empire Kassite dynasty of the Babylonian Empire Simurrum culture Babylonia Assyria Neo-Assyrian Empire Neo-Babylonian Empire Babylonian captivity Fall of Babylon Achaemenid Assyria Seleucid Babylonia Parthian Babylonia Sassanid Asorestan 638–1958 Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Buyid dynasty Qara Qoyunlu Aq Qoyunlu Safavids Ottoman Iraq (incl. Mamluk dynasty) Mandate for Mesopotamia Mandatory Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Kings Arab Federation Republic 1958–1968 1968–2003 2003–2011 2011–present Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region (National Command) Saddam Hussein Iraqi–Kurdish conflict 1974–1975 Shatt al-Arab clashes 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq Weapons of mass destruction Iran–Iraq War Operation Opera Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War 1991 uprisings Sanctions Iraq War U.S. invasion Iraqi insurgency U.S. troop withdrawal Insurgency (2011–2013) War (2014–2017) Fall of Mosul Mosul liberation Insurgency 2019–2021 protests 2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis
Geography Faw peninsula Upper Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia Borders Euphrates river Hamrin Mountains Iraqi Kurdistan Lakes Islands Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Places Shatt al-Arab Syrian Desert Tigris river Umm Qasr Zagros Mountains Wildlife Sinjar Mountains
Politics Administrative divisions Constitution Council of Representatives (legislative) Democracy Elections Foreign aid Foreign relations Government Council of Ministers Presidency Council President List Prime Minister List Human rights in pre-Saddam Iraq in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in post-invasion Iraq in ISIL-controlled territory LGBT Freedom of religion Women Law Military Police Political parties Judiciary Wars and conflicts
Economy Banks Central Bank Companies Corruption Dinar (currency) Infrastructure Foreign Investment Oil Industry Oil reserves Reconstruction Stock Exchange Telecommunications Transportation Airlines Railways Tourism
Society Demographics Iraqis Languages Mesopotamian Arabic Aramaic Kurdish Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects Persian Minorities Armenians Assyrians Circassians Kurds Mandaeans Marsh Arabs Persians Solluba Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman Jews Religion Secularism Islam Christianity Mandaeism Yazidis Irreligion General Art Cinema Cuisine Culture Literature Education Health Media Television Music Smoking Sports Squatting Public holidays Mesopotamian spring festival (Akitu) Mandaean New Year
Category Portal WikiProject Commons

v t e Iraqi security forces
Military	Ministry of Defence Iraqi Armed Forces Army Army Aviation Navy Air Force Air Defence Force Special Forces
Paramilitary	Popular Mobilization Forces Tribal Mobilization
Law enforcement	Ministry of Interior Ministry of Justice Iraqi Police Facilities Protection Service Department of Border Enforcement Private Security Company Association of Iraq
Intelligence	Iraqi National Intelligence Service (General Security Directorate (2004)) Iraqi Falcons Intelligence Cell
Iraq and weapons of mass destruction Biological Chemical

• Iraqi Police