Law enforcement by country


In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.

List by country

Albania

The Albanian State Police serve as the country's primary police force, and one of three policing services managed by Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Albanian State Police operates various subdivisions depending on purpose. Other ministries also manage a police force, including the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Tourism and Environment.

Argentina

In Argentina the most important law enforcement organisation is the Policia Federal Argentina with jurisdiction in all Argentine territories. Argentina is a Federal Republic divided into 23 provinces and one federal district, and as a result the provincial police carries out most routine police work, except in the capital city of Buenos Aires, where the Policía de la Ciudad assumes the role of the local police.

Australia

The majority of policing work is carried out by the police forces of the six states that make up the Australian federation, such as the New South Wales Police Force, the Victoria Police, the Queensland Police Service, the Western Australian Police, The South Australian Police, the Tasmania Police and the Northern Territory Police. The Australian Federal Police are responsible for policing duties in the Australian Capital Territory, and investigating crimes relating to federal criminal law nationwide.

Austria

The policing work is carried out basically by federal agencies. The Federal Police ' is the uniformed force, the investigative work is done by the regional divisions of the Federal Criminal Police Office ', the Landeskriminalamt. Beside the federal agencies some cities have a Municipal Police as well, having the same power like the federal police only restricted by the city boundaries.

Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Police is the main law enforcement agency of Bangladesh. It is administered under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement of law and order within Bangladesh. Though the police are primarily concerned with the maintenance of law and order and security of persons and property of individuals, they also play a big role in the criminal justice system.

Barbados

The Royal Barbados Police Force is the main agency tasked with maintaining local law and order in the country of Barbados. The police force may in times of need call upon the Barbados Defence Force and/or Regional Security System for additional support.

Belgium

The majority of policing work in Belgium is carried out by the local police forces. The Federal Police is responsible for policing and investigating serious and organized crimes nationwide. Both forces are autonomous and subordinate to different authorities, but are linked through common recruiting, training, and logistical support.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Bosnian Police consists of two different Police entities, the Federation and the Republika Srpska Police, Bosnia also has its Counter Terrorism Agency SIPA.

Brazil

There are three federal police services: the Brazilian Federal Police, the Brazilian Federal Highway Police and the Brazilian Federal Railroad Police, which have been inactive for years. Each state has Military Police/Polícia Militar and Civil Police/Polícia Civil, both under the command of the state's governor. Despite their names, the Military Police are public order police, and the Civil Police investigative police. Lastly, more than 1200 cities have Municipal Guards. The armed forces have their own provost services.

Bulgaria

A number of law enforcement agencies operate in Bulgaria, most of which are maintained by the Ministry of Interior.

Cambodia

The National Police of Cambodia is Cambodia's police force which is under the Ministry of Interior

Canada

In Canada, all criminal law falls under federal jurisdiction, although policing is a regional responsibility. However, there is a federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, officially known in French as the Gendarmerie Royale du Canada. The RCMP is tasked with enforcing certain federal laws throughout the country, as well as anti-terrorism duties. They also perform domestic counter-espionage with the assistance of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Additionally, eight of the ten provinces choose to employ the RCMP under contract as their provincial police force rather than establishing their own police services; the exceptions being Ontario, and Quebec. The Ontario Provincial Police serve as the provincial police for Ontario, whereas the Sûreté du Québec serves as the provincial police in Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador also maintains a provincial police force, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, although the RCMP is also contracted to provide police services for parts of the province.
In most provinces, municipalities are allowed, or required, by law to establish their own municipal police forces to provide law enforcement within their communities. Municipalities that do not operate their own municipal police forces will contract law enforcement services from either the RCMP or their province's provincial police service.

China, People's Republic of

In the People's Republic of China, civilian police is mainly done by the People's Police, a branch within the Ministry of Public Security organs, typically through local public security bureaus all under the Ministry of Public Security, with of assistance of the paramilitary force, the People's Armed Police. The People's Police has two other executive branches under the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Justice, as well as two Judicial Police branches under the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, while the PAP, including the China Coast Guard, is under the sole administration of the Central Military Commission from 2018.

Hong Kong

As a special administrative region of China, Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from the Central Government of the PRC, such as maintaining its own law enforcement service. The Hong Kong Police Force operate under local legislations and the Hong Kong Basic Law and within the traditional constabulary concept of preserving life and property, preventing and detecting crime and keeping the peace. For times of emergency the force has a paramilitary capability. The Commissioner of Police reports to the Secretary for Security, who is responsible for all disciplined services in Hong Kong.

Macau

As a special administrative region of China, Macau maintains a high degree of autonomy from the Central Government of the PRC, such as maintaining its own law enforcement service. There are two branches of police forces in Macau:
  1. Corpo de Polícia de Segurança Pública – a civil uniformed police force, responsible for rule and order in the entire territory.
  2. Polícia Judiciária – responsible for major criminal investigations.
In addition, Serviços de Polícia Unitários leads, commands and coordinates the anti-crime operations carried out by CPSP and PJ.

Colombia

The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia, it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. Unlike many nations which use a tiered system of law enforcement, the National Police is the only civilian police force in Colombia. The force's official functions are to protect the Colombian nation, enforce the law by constitutional mandate, maintain and guarantee the necessary conditions for public freedoms and rights and to ensure peaceful cohabitation among the population.
Annual budget US$ 3.6 to 4 billion
There are 147.000 employees.

Czech Republic

The main law enforcement agency in the Czech Republic is the Policie ČR, charged with making arrests, investigating crimes, ensuring road and highway security, and other standard policing tasks. Directed by the Policejní prezident, who holds a rank of colonel or general, policie officers hold ranks similar to those of the military. At the municipal level, city police are funded and directed locally. Sizes of local forces vary and officers have only limited law-enforcement powers, such as traffic enforcement; they can make arrests and must call on the national police to handle serious problems.

Denmark

The main law enforcement agency is the Police of Denmark, under the Danish Ministry of Justice, including 12 common police districts, the state nationwide police force Rigspolitiet, the national intelligence service Politiets Efterretningstjeneste and the special tactical forces Politiets Aktionsstyrke. Further more a Danish military police branch and Danish home guard unit Politihjemmeværnet exists.

El Salvador

Law enforcement in El Salvador is a national civilian police. It covers the Salvadoran territory, and it has five divisions. The National Civil Police was constituted on the Article 159 to establish after the Salvadoran Civil War, and maintained by the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety.

Estonia

Law enforcement in Estonia is carried out by sections of the Estonian Police.

Finland

Law enforcement in Finland is under the jurisdiction of the Finnish Police. The National Bureau of Investigation is a national unit tasked with "crime prevention and provision of expert services." Civil protection, including counter-terrorism, is handled by The Finnish Security Intelligence Service .

France

Germany

Germany is a federal republic of sixteen States . Each one of those States has its own police force called Landespolizei, that is providing the basic law enforcement and crime fighting. Each Landespolizei is supervised by the respective State Minister of Internal Affairs.
The Federal authorities have law enforcement agencies as well:
Depending on the state´s laws, the German cities also provide policing agencies like Stadtpolizei or Ordnungsamt.

Greece

The Hellenic Police Force is the police force of the Hellenic Republic. Tourism Police are an integral part of the Hellenic Police, consisting of men and women specially trained and competent to offer tourists information and help, whenever they have any problems. They are trained in resolving minor differences between tourists and commercial enterprises. They all speak foreign languages, including English. They are distinguished by a shoulder badge displaying Tourism Police on their uniforms.

Hungary

Law enforcement in Hungary was formerly split between the Police, Border Guards, and the Customs and Excise Authority. In 2008, the border guards were merged with the police service. The police force is maintained by the Minister of Justice.

Iceland

The Icelandic Police is Iceland's police force which is under the Ministry of the Interior. The National Commissioner is the overall commander, but he answers to the minister. The police is divided into 9 districts. Iceland also has a Directorate of Customs, whose job is to watch and guard imports and exports and more, which is under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. Icelandic police constables generally do not carry firearms, instead they carry telescopic batons and pepper spray.
The National Commissioner has a Special operations unit which is called the Viking Squad.

India

has numerous law enforcement agencies. At the federal Union level, the agencies are part of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, and support the states in their duties.
Since the federal nature of the Constitution of India mandates law and order as a subject of the state, therefore the bulk of the police lies with respective States and union territories. Bigger cities also operate metropolitan police, also under the state. All senior police officers in the police as well as in the federal agencies are members of the Indian Police Service.

Indonesia

Law enforcement in Indonesia is mainly performed by the Indonesian National Police, together with other law enforcement agencies which are under the command of a certain ministry or State-owned company which perform policing duties for a certain public service, these law enforcement agencies are under supervision and are trained by the Indonesian National Police. The Indonesian National Police is basically the national civilian police force of the country responsible for enforcing law and order of the state.

Iran

Ireland

The Irish Police force, an Garda Síochána na hÉireann, translates to "Guardians of the Peace of Ireland". The state has one nationwide police force. All routinely uniformed officers are unarmed. The strength of the Garda Síochána is approximately 12,000 officers, of which 3,000 are licensed to carry firearms.
The Garda Síochána operates a number of specialist units including the GASU, Mounted Unit, Dog Unit, Public Order Unit and the anti-terrorism Special Detective Unit. It has a central command and control system for major city areas. Uniformed Gardaí wear stab-proof body armour and carry expandable ASP batons, handcuffs and pepper spray all introduced by the new Garda Inspectorate.
Armed support units include the Regional Support Units and the national Emergency Response Unit, which is comparable to American SWAT or British CO19 and operates a variety of lethal and non-lethal devices. All Gardaí who train as detectives carry a sidearm.

Israel

The Israeli Police is the police force for the State of Israel. It is headed by the commissioner Rav-Nitzav Roni Alsheikh and falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security. The Israeli Police has a military corps called the Border Guard, which has its own elite counter-terrorist units, as well as the Civil Guard made up of volunteers.

Italy

Law enforcement in Italy is mainly carried out by different agencies, depending on felony and jurisdiction. On a national level, five police forces operate. The Arma dei Carabinieri, the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza ; are the main forces, the only ones with full powers. There are also the Polizia Penitenziaria, in charge of running order in the prison system.
is an honour guard unit provided by the Carabinieri, a Gendarmerie force in Italy.
Locally, with jurisdiction only in little felonies, There are also Polizia Provinciale in some of the 109 provinces of Italy, and Polizia Municipale in every comune. Even tho they support other forces in drug dealing and thefts, their primary function is to patrol streets and prevent felonies. No investigation allowed.
The Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza are organized as a military force. In recent years, Carabinieri units have been dispatched all over the world in peacekeeping missions, including Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
On a daily basis, calling the 112 emergency number only Polizia or carabinieri will answer as they are the only forces in charge of “Pronto Intervento” and public safety.

Japan

Police in Japan are an apolitical body under the general supervision of an independent agency, the National Police Agency, and free of direct central government executive control. They are checked by an independent judiciary and monitored by a free and active press. The police are generally well respected and can rely on considerable public cooperation in their work.

Luxembourg

The Grand Ducal Police is since 1 January 2000 the sole law enforcement agency in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Police is under the authority of the Luxem-bourgish Minister for Public Security, although it operates in the name, and under the ultimate control of the head of state, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
during a commemoration ceremony of the German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II.
Previously, the Luxembourgish law enforcement agencies were under the command of the Minister of Public Force, a cabinet post which no longer exists.
The Grand Ducal Police was created in its current form on 1 January 2000, when the Grand Ducal Gendarmerie merged with the State-controlled local police forces.
The Grand Ducal Police is responsible for ensuring Luxembourg's internal security, fighting crime and corruption, maintaining law and order and enforcing all laws and Grand Ducal decrees. It is also responsible for assisting the Luxembourgish Army in its internal operations, in accordance with the respective legislation and under the authority of the national Commander-in-Chief, the Grand Duke.
Municipal regulations are enforced by "Municipal agents", who are partly uniformed but always unarmed municipal employees with strictly limited enforcement powers.

Lithuania

Law enforcement in Lithuania is the responsibility of a "unified national police force under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry." From the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is led by the Police Commissar General, the police force branches out to the National and Municipal Police. The National Police is composed of the criminal police, traffic police, public security force and public police.

Malaysia

The Royal Malaysian Police or Polis Diraja Malaysia in Malay is a main branch of security forces in Malaysia. Established on 25 March 1807, the force is a centralized organization that has a gamut of roles that ranges from traffic control to intelligence. Its headquarters is located in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur and divided into 14 state police, including two on East Malaysia consist of Sabah State Police and Sarawak State Police. During the emergency period, the force is a major security forces to track down the communists.
The force has seven departments, which consist of 2 tasked on police management and logistic with 5 tasked for multi-crimes prevented, intelligence and security service. The riot control force known as Federal Reserve Unit makes up part of the police force.
In addition to the Federal Reserve Unit, the Police maintains 2 paramilitary divisions: the General Operations Forces, which includes the Senoi Praaq which grew out of the Emergency Jungle Squads, and the special force: the Pasukan Gerakan Khas, which includes the VAT 69 Police Commandos and UTK. VAT 69 commando battalion is the special force based on by SAS for fight against the communist threats and the Special Action Units , which is modelled on SWAT teams for dangerous crimes prevented and close protections. Besides, the force also created the maritime police special forces known as Police Combat Diving Unit or Unit Selam Tempur, who tasked the security of Straits of Malacca, Sulu Sea and South China Sea from the piracy activities and terrorism.
The Rakan Cop is the Malaysian community police which was launched in 2006.

Malta

Mexico

Most police forces in Mexico can be classified into two general types based on their primary function. They tend to operate as policía judicial or policía preventiva. The basic difference being that the policía judicial are usually under the administration of the judicial branch of government, whereas the policía preventiva tend to be administered by legislative or executive branches of government. Historically, the judicial police would investigate crimes that have already occurred, and preventive police would focus their efforts on preventing crimes. In recent decades these differences have been blurred considerably.
Mexican law enforcement agencies, vary from state to state but usually have the hierarchy mentioned below:
The Moroccan police is called Sûreté Nationale. The force is tasked with upholding the law and public order. It works alongside the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, the Gendarmerie body of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.

Netherlands

The Dutch national police is a government agency charged with upholding the law and public order and providing aid. It is also the investigation service for the Attorney General of the Judiciary. Police duties at airports are provided by the KMAR

Nepal

The Nepal Police is a government body responsible for enforcing law and order in Nepal. Along with Armed Police Force, the police of Nepal is responsible for maintaining law and order and prevention of crime according to the constitution of Nepal and is under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Sarbendra Khanal is the current IGP of Nepal Police.
Nepal Police has total 67,416 police personnel and has 2,344 permanent and 507 temporary police offices and units spread all over the country.
The present chief of Nepal Police is Sarbendra Khanal.

New Zealand

The New Zealand Police are charged with enforcing law in New Zealand. They are a single national police force with a broad policing role. New Zealand police officers do not normally carry firearms, although access to firearms is available when circumstances dictate. Specialised units of the New Zealand Police such as the Armed Offenders Squad, a SWAT type unit and the Special Tactics Group are also operational for different scenarios that might arise. New Zealand Police works with other government agencies and non-government groups to achieve the best safety outcomes for all New Zealanders.

Nicaragua

Nigeria

The police in Nigeria is called the Nigerian Police Force. It is under the control of the federal government – there is no state controlled police in Nigeria. It is tasked with upholding the law and public order.

Norway

The Norwegian national police force is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Police. The Politiet is divided into 27 regional police departments and seven nationwide special departments. In total the force has about 11,000 employees, with the Oslo police precinct, as the largest, accounting for 2,300.
Officers of the Norwegian police usually do not carry firearms, making the force one of the few unarmed police organizations in the world. They are instead armed with telescopic batons and pepper spray.

Pakistan

The police in Pakistan are under the control of the province they work in, with each police having jurisdiction in its own province and its leadership headquartered in the provinces capital. A separate traffic police department exists for managing traffic and is also a provincial force. Only the capital city police are an exception, and is under federal government control with its own setup. In Punjab a counter terror unit eliteforce within the Punjab Police was created in 1998.
A separate paramilitary organization in the eastern provinces known as the Rangers exist for providing security in the country and to assist the police whenever needed. They also under the control of the province they work in. Their equivalents in the western provinces are the Frontier Corps.

Papua New Guinea

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary is the name of the Police force in Papua New Guinea. There are also 20 mobile squads paramilitary under the Special Services Division of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary which is headed by a Director. The Director reports to the Assistant Commissioner who reports to the three deputy Commissioners who are under the Commissioner of Police.

Peru

The national police force in Peru is called the National Police of Peru or PNP. They are the state police force, but serve many of the same roles in the cities that local police forces assume in other countries, such as traffic control at intersections. Peruvian cities each have their own Serenazgo forces, which perform patrol duties like a neighborhood watch and call upon the PNP as needed.

Philippines

The Local Government Code of the Philippines mandates the Barangays to enforce peace and order and provide
support for the effective enforcement of human rights and justice, resolving and/or mediating conflict at the barangay
level through non-adversarial means. Recourse to this Barangay Justice System is required, with some specific exceptions, as a pre-condition before filing a complaint in court or any government offices.
At the national level, law enforcement in the Philippines is handled by two agencies: the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation. Community policing is done by un-armed barangay tanods who are hired and supervised by their local barangays, the smallest elected government in the Philippines. Barangay Tanods are often described as volunteers but they do receive in some places small stipends and benefits such as health care. They have some limited training.
The twelve operational support units and their respective functions are as follows:
Law enforcement agencies in Poland include:
There are three main police forces in Portugal:
  1. Polícia de Segurança Pública – a civil uniformed police, responsible mainly for the policing in the large urban areas;
  2. Guarda Nacional Republicana – a gendarmerie type force, that works mainly in the countryside and small towns;
  3. Polícia Judiciária – responsible for the major criminal investigations.
There are also other smaller specialized police services, like the Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica, the Polícia Marítima, the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras and the polícias municipais.

Romania

General Inspectorate of Romanian Police is the central unit of police in Romania, which manages, guides, supports and controls the activity of the Romanian police units, investigates and analyses very serious crimes related to organized crime, economic, financial or banking criminality, or to other crimes which make the object of the criminal cases investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and which has any other attributions assigned by law.
The organizational chart of General Inspectorate of Romanian Police includes general directorates, directorates, services and, offices established by the order of the Minister of Administration and Interior.
The General Inspectorate is under the command of a General Inspector appointed by the Minister of Administration and Interior. Since March 2015, the General Inspector of the Police is appointed by the Prime Minister and also holds the rank of Secretary of State.

Russia

The police in Russia are called полиция. The Police is operating under MVD, and currently the police is under wide reform. Until 2011 the police was called милиция. This change of name started at the Russian Revolution via a Communist political idea of "replacing the capitalist police by a people's militia"; but the name "militsiya" has persisted after the Communist system collapsed.
The standard Russian police baton is made of rubber. The normal service uniform is black with red piping and hat band. Fur hats and heavy greatcoats are worn in winter.

Serbia

The Police of the Republic of Serbia is responsible for all local and national law enforcement services in Serbia. It is managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Singapore

The Singapore Police Force is the main agency tasked with maintaining law and order in the city-state. Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police.

Slovenia

is the responsibility of the Slovenian National Police force, which is composed of 11 police directorates.

South Africa

The South African Police Service is responsible for providing policing services to the public of South Africa at 1115 police stations, divided across nine provinces.

South Korea

The National Police Agency, or NPA, is the only police organization in South Korea and is run under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. As a national police force it provides all policing services throughout the country. This differs from the situation in many countries including France, where policing is split between the National Police and Gendarmerie, and between countries such as the United States which have a layered system of National, State/Regional and/or local Law Enforcement organizations.
The NPA is headquartered in Seoul and is divided into 14 local police agencies, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Local police agencies are not independent of the national police. There were 96,000 police officers

Spain

Policing in Spain is carried out by a combination of national, regional and local bodies.

Sri Lanka

The national police service in Sri Lanka is Sri Lanka Police. The elite Police Counter-Terrorist force the Special Task Force has taken security duties around the island.

Sweden

The Swedish Police Authority is the central administrative authority responsible for the Swedish police that operates under the Ministry of Justice. The Swedish Police Authority replaced the National Police Board in 2015. Due to the 2015 reform of the police, the Swedish Security Service became a separate entity under the Ministry of Justice, instead of previously being part of the National Police Board. The reform also resulted in Rikskriminalpolisen being dissolved and its duties transferred to the National Operations Department. The 21 police regions that were established according to the Counties of Sweden prior to the reform were replaced by six police regions, which were instead divided into 27 local police districts.
Swedish police officers are always armed with a 9 mm Sig Sauer handgun, a telescopic baton and a can of pepper spray.
The Swedish Police Authority maintains three well-trained SWAT elements, the first being the elite counter-terrorism National Task Force which is the equivalent of Germany's GSG 9 and the French GIGN. The second unit being the Reinforced Regional Task Force, which is trained to handle riot control, hostage situations and high-risk arrests in three of Sweden's major cities; Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. The third element is composed of small, less well-equipped special response units under the jurisdictions of their respective local police districts, they are simply called Regional Task Forces, and they serve officially under the Reinforced Regional Task Force.

Switzerland

The police in Switzerland is mainly the responsibility of the 26 cantons, although both federal and local police forces also exist.

Taiwan (Republic of China)

The Taiwanese police is a national police force. It has an elite Special Forces unit known as the Thunder Squad. It is trained for dealing with dangerous and high-risk missions, as well as counter-terrorism due to the potential military threat from the People's Republic of China.

Thailand

The Royal Thai Police are subdivided into several regions and services, each enjoying their own powers.
Law enforcement is Turkey is carried out by five separate bodies. The Turkish National Police is the civilian police, under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible only for policing the civilian population. Provost services are provided by the Military Police. The Turkish Coast Guard is also branch of the Armed Forces, responsible for search and rescue and maritime border protection. The National Intelligence Organization is responsible for internal security. Some limited local law enforcement is carried out by village guards.

Vietnam

The single law enforcement in Vietnam is called the Vietnam People's Public Security, which answers to the Ministry of Public Security.

United Arab Emirates

Law enforcement in the United Arab Emirates is divided between regionally with each Emirate having its own independent police force. For example, the Abu Dhabi Police has jurisdiction within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

United Kingdom

Widely regarded as the home of the first modern police force, law enforcement in the United Kingdom is based on the long-standing philosophy of policing by consent. Policing and law enforcement are organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom as a result of devolution of powers to Scotland, Northern Ireland and, to a lesser extent, London.
England and Wales have 43 local police forces, each of which covers a 'police area'. Since 2012, 41 of these forces have their own directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner, under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The two exceptions are in London, where the Metropolitan Police is accountable to the directly elected mayor via the Office for Policing and Crime, and the much smaller City of London Police that retains the Common Council of the City as its police authority.
officers without firearms. Most British law enforcement officers do not carry a firearm.
Scotland now has a single national force – the Police Service of Scotland, commonly known as Police Scotland. It replaced eight former territorial police forces and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency in April 2013 and is overseen by the Scottish Police Authority, under the terms of the Police and Fire Reform Act 2012.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland serves Northern Ireland, succeeding the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 2001. Following the Police Act 2000, the PSNI is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, who are themselves appointed since 2007 by the Minister of Justice using the Nolan principles for public appointments.
From October 2013 the National Crime Agency operates as the United Kingdom's first national law enforcement agency. Replacing the existing Serious Organised Crime Agency and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, as well as assuming some of the responsibilities of the UK Border Agency, but not counter-terrorism, for the first time it will have authority for "tasking and coordination" investigative work to local forces under the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
is one of three special police forces that have a specific, non-regional jurisdiction of enforcement.
There are also three special police forces that have a specific, non-regional jurisdiction – the British Transport Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Ministry of Defence Police. Over the centuries there has been a wide variation in the number of police forces operating within the UK, most of which now no longer exist, see list of former police forces in the United Kingdom. A few miscellaneous constabularies with responsibility mostly founded on old legislation to police specific local areas, such as ports and parks, have escaped police reform. Lastly, a number of government bodies that are not police forces have detective powers and enforce laws, such as the Marine and Fisheries Agency and UK Border Agency, who employ officers with limited powers of detention and search but generally cannot make full arrests.
The majority of British police are never routinely armed with firearms, relying on an extendable baton and in some cases Tasers, with specialist armed units always on patrol and called in only when necessary. The exceptions are the Ministry of Defence Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland which are routinely armed.
Uniquely in Britain, there are police forces of Crown Dependencies such as the Isle of Man and States of Jersey and Guernsey, who have police forces that share resources with the UK police, whilst having a separate administration within their own governments. The British Overseas Territories, have their own police forces which are generally based on the British model of policing.

United States

In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies such as the United States Secret Service, US Marshals, United States Park Police, United States Capitol Police, and the United States Pentagon Police are limited to the enforcement of federal laws and usually specialize in certain crimes or duties, but do enforce some state laws. Most crimes constitutionally fall under the jurisdiction of state police or the thousands of local police forces. These include county police or sheriff's departments as well as municipal or city police forces. Many areas also have special agencies such as campus police, railroad police, housing police, or a district or precinct constable.