Jandarmeria Română

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Romanian Gendarmerie
Coat of Arms of the Romanian Gendarmerie
Country	Romania
Type	Gendarmerie
Formed	1893 (re-founded after the fall of communism in 1990)
HQ	Bucharest
Inspector-General	General-maior Costică Silion
Website	Jandarmeria Română

Jandarmeria Română (IPA: [ʒan.dar.me'ri.a ro'mɨ.nə]) is the military branch of the two Romanian police forces (the civil force being the Romanian Police).

The Romanian Gendarmerie is subordinated to the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

1 Duties
2 Organization
- 2.1 Territorial organizations
- 2.2 National structures
3 History
4 Uniform
5 International affiliations
6 International missions
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Duties

Riot control exercise

Its duties include:

Maintaining and restoring the public order:
- Crowd and riot control
- Policing the mountainous areas, the Black Sea Coast resorts and the Danube Delta
- Counter-terrorism activities
Pursuing and apprehending the fugitives and deserters
Security of sensitive and vital installations, such as:
- Public institutions, ministries and courts
- Embassies and consulates
- International airports (until 2005)
- National museums
- Nuclear power plants
Security and protection of the secret mail all over the Romanian territory.

[edit] Organization

Gendarmes (wearing the traditional helmet with a plume) on horseback

The General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie is the central structure of the Romanian Gendarmerie under the command of a General Inspector appointed by the Minister of Administration and Interior.

[edit] Territorial organizations

The Romanian Gendarmerie is divided in 41 territorial inspectorates, corresponding to each county (judeţ), and the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie in Bucharest.

Additionally, eight Gendarmerie Mobile Squads (Grupări Mobile) operate on a territorial basis, with headquarters in Bacău, Braşov, Constanţa, Cluj Napoca, Craiova, Ploieşti, Târgu Mureş and Timişoara.

[edit] National structures

The Special Intervention Brigade "Vlad Ţepeş" (Brigada Specială de Intervenţie a Jandarmeriei) has national jurisdiction. It handles special and high-risk situations, such as heavy rioting, hostage rescue and counter-terrorist operations.

[edit] History

Gendarmes on parade

The first Gendarmerie corps was created on April 3, 1850 in Moldavia by the Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica. After the Union of Wallachia and Moldavia in 1859 under Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the Gendarmerie was subordinated to the Ministry of War as a separate armed force.

During the Romanian War of Independence of 1877-1878, it mainly served as military police, but it also took part in combat.

In 1893, the Rural Gendarmerie (Jandarmeria Rurală) was established as a military corps under the authority of the Ministry of Justice for policing the countryside and under the authority of Ministry of War for military police functions.

The Romanian Gendarmerie was engaged during the Second Balkan War and the First World War with military police duties, policing the front, guarding important installations and organizing the evacuation during the 1916 retreat. The corps also saw actual combat during the 1917 campaign (see also Romanian Campaign (World War I)). The Gendarmerie oversaw the demobilization of the Army in July 1918 and the re-mobilization in October 1918 and maintained the public order in the new territories.

Upon the entry of Romania into the Second World War on June 22, 1941, the Gendarmerie took over its military police duties again. It was also involved in the deportation of Jews and Gypsies to Transnistria in 1941 and 1942 (see also Romania during World War II#Romania and the Holocaust).

After the war (on January 23, 1949), the Communist regime purged and disbanded the Gendarmerie, its personnel being redistributed to the newly-created Directorate for Security Troops, modeled after the NKVD Internal Troops.

The Romanian Gendarmerie was re-established on July 5, 1990.

[edit] Uniform

Gendarmes

Gendarme on guard (in full dress uniform)

During the period up to 1915 the Romanian Gendarmerie wore a distinctive dress comprising a shako with white plume, dark blue tunic with red facings, white trefoil epaulettes and aiguillettes plus light blue trousers with red stripes. Mounted units of the Gendarmerie wore a silver helmet with spike and white plume, a similar tunic to the foot branch but with yellow epaulettes and aiguillettes, white breeches and high boots.

Currently the Romanian gendarmes wear dark blue berets/caps, shirts/T-shirts and trousers as everyday uniforms, while the dress uniform consists of a light blue tunic, white shirt, dark blue tie and dark blue trousers for the commissioned officers, and a dark blue tunic, white shirt and dark blue trousers for the NCO's and privates.

[edit] International affiliations

The Romanian Gendarmerie is a full member of the Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Forces and Gendarmeries with Military Status (FIEP), along with the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, the Spanish Guardia Civil, the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana, the Turkish Gendarmerie, the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie and the Dutch Royal Marechaussee.

After Romania's accession to the European Union, Jandarmeria seeks to be accepted as permanent observer to the European Gendarmerie Force, as a first step towards full membership.^[1]