Gendarmery (Serbia)

Gendarmery
Жандармерија
Žandarmerija
Gendarmery badge
Gendarmery flag
Agency overview
Formed 28 June 2001 (2001-06-28)
Preceding agency
Employees 3,734 (2012)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
National agency Serbia
Operations jurisdiction Serbia
Governing body Government of Serbia
Operational structure
Overviewed by Ministry of Internal Affairs
Headquarters Belgrade

Elected minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Dejan Luković, Commander
Website
Official website

The Gendarmery (Serbian Cyrillic: Жандармерија) is an armed police force of Serbian Police. It was formed on 28 June 2001, after the disbandment of the Special Police Units (PJP). Gendarmery in Serbia existed in previous form from 1860 to 1920. As a special unit inside Serbian police, its role can be compared to those of Russian OMON and former Ukrainian Berkut units.

As of 2017, Gendarmery consists of about 2,800 members. The Command of the Gendarmery is in Belgrade.[2]

The gendarmery's duties are both civilian and military, including securing the 'Ground Safety Zone'[3] along the administrative line with Kosovo and providing disaster rescue teams (see below).[4]

History

Serbian gendarmery officers, 1865

The word žandarmerija is a French loanword ("gendarmerie"), and is pronounced "zhandarmeriya". The Žandarmerija corps date back to the Principality of Serbia, established on June 28, 1860, and originally consisted of 120 officers. It was disbanded after World War II and was restored in 2001 by the reorganization of the irregular "Special Police Unit" (Posebna Jedinica Policije, PJP).[2] This was accomplished by an act issued by the Minister of Interior Dušan Mihajlović. One of its first major assignments was capturing the suspects in the assassination of prime minister Zoran Đinđić.

On 7 May 2003, the Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU) was established within Gendarmery, but was separated in April 2007 to become an independent unit within the Police.[5]

In 2005 the Person and Infrastructure Protection Unit was established, to carry out close protection tasks, as well as activities related to technical protection.[5][2]

In 2011 the Gendarmery was reorganized and the First Quick Response Detachment was established, consisting of the specialist companies of all Gendarmery detachments along with the Diving Center.[5]

Commanders

Since its establishment, the Serbian Gendarmery has had six Commanders:[2][6]

№ CommanderTook officeLeft officeTime in officeMinister of Internal Affairs
1
Radosavljević, GoranColonel
Goran Radosavljević
(born 1957)		28 June 200117 August 20043 years, 50 daysDušan Mihajlović
Dragan Jočić
2
Tešić, BorivojeColonel
Borivoje Tešić
(born 1956)		17 August 200423 June 20083 years, 311 daysDragan Jočić
-
Grekulović, SrđanColonel
Srđan Grekulović
(born 1962)
Acting		23 June 20083 June 2009345 daysDragan Jočić
Ivica Dačić
3
Dikić, BratislavColonel
Bratislav Dikić
(born 1970)		3 June 200917 July 20134 years, 44 daysIvica Dačić
-
Božović, MilenkoColonel
Milenko Božović
(born 1965)
Acting		17 July 20132 August 201316 daysIvica Dačić
4
Božović, MilenkoColonel
Milenko Božović
(born 1965)		2 August 201313 March 20151 year, 223 daysIvica Dačić
Nebojša Stefanović
5
Dragović, GoranColonel
Goran Dragović
(born 1967)		13 March 20152 August 20183 years, 142 daysNebojša Stefanović
6
Luković, DejanColonel
Dejan Luković		2 August 2018Incumbent71 daysNebojša Stefanović

Organization

Gendarmery members

In 2012, the Serbian Gendarmery consisted of about 3,734 members,[7] while in 2017 the strength is estimated at about 2,800 members.[2]

Alongside the operational detachments deployed through Serbia, the Gendarmery has some specialized units: the Diving Unit and the Personnel and Infrastructure Protection Unit, which is specialized in tasks of physical and technical protection.[2]

Detachments

The principal bases are located in Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad and Kraljevo.[2]

Detachments are organized as independent units in order to be able to execute every-day duties on their territory of jurisdiction. Should the need arise, each detachment may quickly support others throughout Serbia.[2]

First Quick Detachment

Within each operational detachment, a company-sized specialized unit is tasked to deal with most complex tasks in both urban and rural environment. In turn, each specialized unit consists of several counter-terrorist teams, which may be reinforced by sniper, K9 and explosive ordnance disposal assets when needed.[2] Since 2011, specialized units are grouped within the First Quick Detachment.[5] The first commander was Police Lieutenant Colonel Vojkan Ivanovic.[5]

Diving Unit

The Diving Unit of the Serbian Gendarmery is headquartered in Belgrade and is intended for conducting special actions in environments dominated by water, as well as the land area near water.[2] Its operational element consists of three specialist teams: intervention team, searching team and nautical team.[5]

The Diving Unit tracks its origins to 1997, when it was established within the Special Operation Unit.[5]

Mission

Its main duties are:

  • Restoring peace and stability if they have been heavily disturbed
  • Counter terrorism
  • Countering violent groups
  • Repressing prison riots

Its civil duties include: to provide security and public peace, to investigate and prevent organized crime, terrorism and other violent groups; to protect state and private property; to help and assist civilians and other emergency forces in a case of emergency, natural disaster, civil unrest and armed conflicts.

Its military duties include to provide, preserve and protect security and public peace, public order, to protect state and private property, to assist other security forces in case of emergency, civil unrest, war; to repress riots; to reinforce martial law and mobilization; to fight and apprehend suspected criminals, terrorists and other violent groups ;

Its additional duties are to perform any duties decreed in the decrees of law and regulations other than civil, military and other duties and the duties given by the governmental decrees based on them.

Equipment

NameCountryCaliberNotes
CZ 99Serbia9x19 ParabellumIn use also CZ999
Glock 17Austria9x19 ParabellumIn use Glock 17 Gen 3
SIG Sauer P 220Switzerland9x19 Parabellum
Amadeo RossiBrasil357. MagnumFor training purposes
Smith&WessonUSA357. MagnumFor training purposes
Zastava R83Serbia357. MagnumFor training purposes
HK MP5Germany9x19 ParabellumIn use A2,A3,SD3,K versions
Zastava M92Serbia7.62x39
Zastava M84 ŠkorpionYugoslavia7.65x17Personal Defense Weapon
Zastava M70Yugoslavia/Serbia7.62x39In use AB1,AB2 and modernised ABX versions
Zastava M21Serbia5.56x45 NATO
MPi-KMEast Germany7.62x39
Colt M4USA5.56x45 NATOA4 Commando version in use
Zastava M76Yugoslavia7.92x57
Zastava M91Serbia7.62x54R
SteyrAustria7.62x51 NATOTactical Elite
HK G3Germany7.62x51 NATO
HK G33Germany5.56x45 NATO
SIG Sauer 716Switzerland7.62x51 NATO
Zastava M93Serbia12.7x108
Barrett M82USA12.7x99 NATO
Barrett M95USA12.7x99 NATOBullpup sniper rifle
Zastava M84Yugoslavia/Serbia7.62x54R
Browning M2USA12.7x99 NATOMounted only on vehicles
Zastava M93Serbia30mmAutomatic granade launcher

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Novi odred Žandarmerije sličan JSO". b92.net (in Serbian). 24 January 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jevtic, Milos (13 January 2017). "Serbian Gendarmerie". Spec Ops Magazine. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. ↑ B92. "Interior minister in Ground Safety Zone". www.b92.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Nadležnosti" [Duties]. Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Serbia (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 9 Feb 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Gendarmerie of the Republic of Serbia". specijalne-jedinice.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Serbian ministries, etc". rulers.org. B. Schemmel. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Novi odred Žandarmerije sličan JSO" (in Serbian). B92. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
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