gendarmerie

An independent military chaplain in charge of military and civilian security affairs . It is also translated as military police force, security force, national guard, or security force. In some cases, it is translated as the National Military Police, but this is a mistranslation as it refers to the Gendarmerie, the name of a branch of the military, not the name of a specific organization.

It can mainly be found in Western and Southern European countries such as France , Italy , the Netherlands , Spain , and Portugal , and in Central and South American countries such as Chile and Argentina , which have been greatly influenced by these countries .[1] Canada 's Royal Canadian Mounted Police also started out as a military police force in name only.

Many languages, including English, do not have their own vocabulary to refer to the military police as an 'independent military branch in charge of public security affairs'. In most cases, it is borrowed from French, the birthplace of the military police system, and most of them are languages ​​that use Gendarmerie. The origin of this word is the Gendarme, a cavalry unit among the French Royal Men-at-Arms , which is also the origin of the French Military Police .

The other two words, Connétablie and Maréchaussée, originate from units with similar characteristics that existed before the establishment of Jang Darum, and were commanded by the Connétable and Maréchal , respectively . Among these, the latter is still in use today, including in the Dutch Military Police (Koninklijke Marechaussee).

In addition, the Carabinieri of Italy derived from the Carabinier, the Carabineros of the Spanish kingdom, and the modern Spanish Spanish Guardia Civil or Mexico, regardless of tradition. In some cases, there are many other organizations such as Guardia Nacional, but Gendarmerie is widely used in the dictionary meaning.

Military Police (MP), an English word commonly used to refer to military police or military police in the English-speaking world and its influenced armies, is not a word that has the same meaning as Gendarmerie. MP is a ‘class’ purely in charge of security work within the compound.[2] While the Gendarmerie is not suitable for security work outside the military, with some exceptions, the Gendarmerie is a ‘military chaplain’ who is responsible for both security in military units and public safety.[3] Rather, its main job is to protect the lives of the people. Therefore, the two conceptual words are not compatible with each other. Mentioning MP when explaining Gendarmerie is most likely just a case of bringing up MP, a similar concept, to help the understanding of the uninitiated.

Even if we focus on the translated words "Gendarmerie" and "Military Police" rather than the original words "Gendarmerie" and "Military Police", the above differences are generally similar. Representative countries that used these words in modern times include the Korean Empire , the Japanese Empire , and the Qing Dynasty / Republic of China . In these countries, “Military Police” was a concept equivalent to “Gendarmerie,” and as a sub-concept, “Military Police” existed, corresponding to “Military Police.” For example, Gojong Annals The “Army Military Police Ordinance” specified that “military police, administrative police, and judicial police” would be placed under the military police, and in the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, the military police went beyond the simple level of military administration in occupied areas and were also involved in civilian security in the colonies and mainland . In the Republic of China, as the influence of the U.S. military has become stronger since the First Dynasty , the English name is Military Police, but at the time of its introduction and establishment, it was used as Gendarmerie because it imitated the Japanese military system. In terms of actual work, it still has jurisdiction over not only the military police power but also the judicial police power.

However, in East Asia, unlike in Europe, military police are often nominally subordinate to the army rather than being a completely independent branch of the military. For example, in the Korean Empire, the military police was created as a branch of the army.[4] In the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was part of the army, but was actually under the direct control of the Ministry of National Defense. The Japanese Army Military Police was influenced by the European military system and had a concept close to the Gendarmerie, but it also had some similarities with the Military Police, such as being a branch within the army rather than a nominally independent branch of the military. In addition, it had a much more complex character, involving not only military and civilian security, but also counterintelligence and political operations. Because the nature of either the Military Police or the Gendarmerie is not completely the same, the Japanese Army Military Police is often called " Kemteitai " by transliterating the Japanese pronunciation like the Gestapo , and when explaining it, the terms Military Police, Gendarmerie, and Secret Police are often used interchangeably depending on the context in which it is mentioned.

The birth of the military police as a military branch responsible for security duties began with the birth of the modern nation. Until the Middle Ages, security duties were generally handled by armed forces or the military led by bureaucrats and influential people without any separate organization, and in most cases, police power and judicial power were not separated. For example, in Joseon , Podocheong , each military camp , and local leaders maintained public order in their respective jurisdictions. In Europe under feudalism , each community had a vigilante group, but the lord managed public order, exercised judicial power, and was in charge of the kingdom's armed forces. Troops led by the Maréchal enforced the kingdom's laws and maintained public order.

Then, local feudal lords were removed from the Kingdom of France to increase the king's direct territory, and the standing army, including the guard cavalry, Jang Da-reum , began to be in charge of security in the direct territories scattered across the provinces. This was also part of the strengthening of royal authority by strengthening the central government's control over local regions. It was originally the Marshal's role to supervise this, and "Prévôt", field officers under the Marshal, were dispatched to supervise it. Prévôt (Provost) originally meant “placed on the front line” or “in charge of command,” meaning an official appointed to command and supervise the field. Since this was an official position that did not necessarily exist in the military, these field officers for security purposes soon came to be called "Prévôt des maréchaux" (Provost of the marshals), or "Marshal's Field Marshals."[5] The organization they belonged to, " Maréchaussée " (Marshalcy), literally translated into Korean as " Marshal Department " or "Marshalcy", soon expanded its meaning to refer to these units themselves as "Maréchaussée". This system is in France It was maintained throughout the Ancien Regime , but with the establishment of the Republic and nation-state during the French Revolution , it was renamed from the Royal Gendarmerie (Maréchaussée Royale) to the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale), and continues to this day.

During the early and modern era, France was in many ways a model of a modern nation-state, so its legal system was accepted as a model, and in the process, many countries established gendarmerie forces following the example of the French National Gendarmerie. It was introduced as a central police force for local regions in monarchies as well as republics, and functioned as a reliable armed force of the government in civil wars and regional violent crimes.

After World War II, some countries merged into national police forces for various reasons, such as overlapping duties with the police and resistance to the military controlling civilians . However, in some countries, they still exist or are newly created for reasons such as specialization, strengthened control, and tradition. . Major examples can be seen in Europe , where tradition is valued , and Central and South America, where public security is poor . In particular , Chile and Colombia have no police and the military police is solely responsible for security.

Since it is the military, in principle it is under the Ministry of Defense and controlled by military law. The legal status of its members is not police officials , but military officials ( officers / non-commissioned officers / soldiers ) and military officials . However, its main task is not war , but maintaining civilian security. Since they are also responsible for civilian security work, they are initially affiliated with each military service, but in peacetime, they are often ' assigned ' to government ministries that have public security agencies under their control, such as the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Security.

The Military Police , which is not an independent military branch, is organized as a branch under the Army , Navy , and Air Force , but the Military Police is a ' military branch ' with the same status as the Army, Navy, and Air Force . This is because private security work requires a significant amount of manpower and budget .

Except for some military personnel, military police are recognized as soldiers, that is, as belligerents, under international law, so unlike police, they can legally participate in combat during wartime and are guaranteed to be treated as prisoners of war .

The military police not only perform the role of ‘administrative police’ to prevent crime and maintain public order, but also perform the duties of ‘ judicial police ’.

Not all military police units perform the duties of judicial police. Usually, only military police officers or military personnel who have been granted judicial police qualifications by the competent prosecutor general can perform the duties of judicial police.

The French Imperial Guard (la garde impériale), which can be said to be the parent of the military police in France, was originally a unit introduced not only to protect the emperor and the city of Paris , but also to prevent and control crime . French Emperor Napoleon I granted judicial police powers to the Imperial Guard, and ultimately placed it under the control of prosecutors and examining judges (le magistrat) in relation to crime investigation work.

In the case of the modern French gendarmes, if the gendarmes are granted judicial police powers by the chief prosecutor in charge, they can exercise judicial police powers under the direction and supervision of prosecutors and investigative judges. In rural France (à la campagne), it is common to see gendarmes, not national police, conducting criminal investigations.

In addition to France, a representative example of a country that operates a gendarmerie system is Italy . As Italy is also a European country, it operates the Italian Carabinieri similar to France , and in relation to criminal investigations, it is conducted under the direction of prosecutors and examining judges, who are judicial officers.

Since the military police was originally a public power that was projected from the center to the provinces, its jurisdiction is generally more local than the metropolitan area and rural rather than urban areas. So, when explaining Gendarmerie in English, it is sometimes described as “rural police”, that is, “local police”.

Even though the police organization is not an autonomous police system due to its nature , it naturally becomes close to the local residents because it stays in the area for a long time. Naturally, the possibility of collusion with local officials and residents and corruption increases. Accordingly, military police units directly under the government are dispatched to regions where there is a high possibility of collusion with local governments . Military personnel often live in barracks or official residences within the unit, have little business that can bring them into contact with the general public, and because they frequently move work locations, it is unlikely that they will assimilate with the local residents. A representative example is the Italian Carabinieri. The mafia in each region of Italy bribes and threatens local police, preventing local police from fully exercising their public authority .

Since it is public security work , the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the police inevitably overlap to some extent. The core function of the military police is centralization, including mutual checks and prevention of collusion, so the more minor local security issues are, the less effective it is. Therefore, there are many countries that established military police forces but disbanded them due to these inefficiency issues and integrated them into the police. Belgium and Austria are examples of this. In countries where military police are maintained, they are often divided into 'administrative police' and 'judicial police' to prevent the jurisdiction and duties of the military police and police from overlapping.

As it is a military organization, it is often more armed than the police. Although it is a very dangerous area, military police forces are often deployed when it is difficult to lift restrictions on police firepower. Of course, as they are police officers, they are not armed to the level of the military.

As it is a military organization, it is often armed at a higher level than the police, and is therefore deployed for high-risk missions.[6] The firepower of regular police may be difficult to respond to in extreme situations such as terrorism or large-scale riots , so they are taken on instead. Or, even if it is not such a special situation, military police may be deployed when it is a high-risk area and it is difficult to lift restrictions on police fire power.

For the same reason, major national facilities such as nuclear power plants , airports , and presidential residences are guarded by heavily armed military police rather than ordinary police. In France, the gendarmerie is in charge of guarding central government buildings even within police jurisdictions, such as in Paris, and in Italy, the gendarmerie is in charge of guarding world-class artworks that criminals mainly target . This is because the military police are viewed as less likely to collude with criminals than the police.

Although the military police is a security organization, it is fundamentally a military organization, so it participates in war or overseas. In many cases, they are engaged in military deployment missions. This is also a crucial difference between the Military Police and the Internal Affairs Forces, which perform missions that are not much different from the Military Police .

In international organizations , the military police are considered ' soldiers ' rather than ' police ', so they cannot engage in exchange activities such as sending liaison officers or dispatching members to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). This is because Interpol prohibits intervention or activities of a military nature in accordance with Article 3 of the Interpol Charter . Therefore, in countries where military police are maintained, all Interpol liaison officers are handled by other security/judicial agencies such as the police. Representatively, in Italy and France , the Italian National Police and the French National Police are in charge of Interpol liaison work, respectively.

Even in a country where non- military police other than the military police do not exist at all and the military police completely replaces them, exchanges with the military police are not recognized. In these countries, civilian public officials such as prosecutors are in charge of this.

Most African countries that were formerly French colonies operate gendarmerie based on the French system.

In the United States, federal forces such as military police are called up under the Militia Convocation Act. The organization is restricted from conducting security activities within the United States . However , in emergency situations such as natural disasters or large-scale riots, the National Guard, which exists in each state, is temporarily deployed to maintain order and public order, such as military police, under orders from the governor . Representative examples are the coronavirus outbreak and the George Floyd protests .

The mounted police are also a legacy of this system. Even though they belonged to the police rather than the military police chaplain, the practice of entrusting the mounted police with demonstration control, riot suppression, and local security duties to the cavalry of military organizations, including Jang Da-reum, was continued.

As can be seen from the dualization of the local police and military police, it also played the role of a SWAT team. There is a saying that the military police were often dispatched even after the cultural rule began during the Japanese colonial era, because the military police with rifles or grenades were also responsible for responding to terrorism in cases of unrest that were difficult to suppress with ordinary police officers armed with pistols.

It often appears in French works such as Les Misérables or The Count of Monte Cristo . In the children's version of the translation , it is often described as a police officer.

In the Italian novel, Father, Father, Our Father, the same character became a police officer and then a military policeman depending on the edition.