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IRANIAN
NATIONAL POLICE FORCE
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شهربانی
کل کشور
شاهنشاهی
ایران
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The
origins of the National Police go back to the
beginning of the twentieth century when first
Italian, then Swedish, advisers offered police
training to Iranians and founded the first school
for the training of police officers. It was
not until 1921, however that Reza Khan - shortly
after his assumption of power, brought the various
departments under the central control of the
Ministry of Interior. In its formative years
the National Police was essentially a paramilitary
force, and as late as the 1960s its military
heritage was reported to be reflected in the
complexion of the force.
By
the mid-1970s however, most of the military
officers in the upper ranks, whose presence
had been a cause of dissension among officers
below them, had been reassigned to the armed
forces; In almost all respects, the National
Police was a civil police force modeled after
those in Western societies.
In
1977 the Iranian National Police operated with
approximately 40,000 men, under a fiscal year
1976 budget equivalent of about US$300 million.
Like the Gendarmerie, the National Police was
under the direction of the Ministry of Interior.
Their responsibility for law enforcement included
all cities over 5,000 in population, which numbered
over 150 in the late 1960s and undoubtedly considerably
more by 1977 (a total of 20 percent of the population).
The bases were organized along hierarchical
lines, routine activities were carried out by
city headquarters, certain functions that exceed
city jurisdiction were conducted by provincial
headquarters, and those exceeding provincial
jurisdiction were the responsibility of national
headquarters in Tehran.
In addition to the usual urban police activities,
the National Police was responsible for passport
and immigration procedures, issuance and control
of citizens identification cards, driver and
vehicle licensing and registration, railroad
and airport policing, prison management, narcotics,
intelligence and several that were responsible
for the welfare of police personnel. The number
of bureaus in the National Police had multiplied
since the early 1960s as has the responsibilities
and efficiency of the force.
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Recruit
patrolmen also train for three months at the National
Police University before becoming law enforcement officers.
In addition to passing this course, enlisted men must
pass a literacy test, show proof of grade school education,
and pass a physical and mental examination. In-service
training for both officers and enlisted men consist
of a series of twelve-week courses in a variety of subjects,
including criminal investigation, traffic regulation
and control, civil disturbance control, narcotics law
enforcement, prison management, and radio communications.
The
demilitarization of the National Police has been accompanied
by the upgrading of the quality of personnel, the modernization
of virtually all aspects of their operations, and the
doubling of the size of the force between the mid-1950s
and the mid-1970s. During much of this period these
efforts were aided by the Public Safety Division under
the United States Agency for International Development
(AID), which worked principally in the areas of training,
communications, narcotics control, and traffic control.
This AID training mission was terminated during the
1960s. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s,
the United States trained 179 Iranian Police officers
at the International Police Academy in Washington, DC,
under the auspices of AIDís Public Safety Program. Perhaps
the greatest advance has taken place in the area of
recruitment and training of personnel. Whereas in the
past a large number of recruits were illiterate, were
unsuited for police work, and received little in the
way of training, by the mid-1970s recruiting had become
highly selective, and training was required throughout
the policeman's career.
The
pride of the force was the National Police University
in Tehran, which housed training facilities for officers
and patrolmen. To be accepted for officers school, the
applicant must had a high school diploma and meet exacting
physical and mental standards. After three years studying
police sciences and university-level subjects, the successful
cadet was graduate as a second lieutenant with a university
level (licentiate) degree. Successive promotion was
depend on length of service, quality of performance,
and further training at higher grade levels. Upon reaching
the rank of lieutenant colonel the officer was again
enter to the university for the nine-month Senior Officer`s
Course, which was consist of training in such fields
as modern police tactics, administration, and planning.
This course, was designed to offer expertise in management,
is mandatory for further promotion.
The
Iranian government was extremely proud of the modernization
of its National Police. The urban dwellers no longer
were fear walking streets alone, as was the case as
recently as the early 1960s. Through demilitarization,
which had allowed the career police officer to attain
the highest ranks within the National Police, and through
substantial budget increases (fourfold between FY 1970
and FY 1976), which had allowed salaries, benefits,
and allowances to be standardized at an attractive level
and enabled the expansion of the force and improvement
of the equipment, the National Police had attained a
degree of professionalism and morale far above their
pre-1960s public image as inefficient and corrupt officials
to be feared rather that respected.
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