The Romanian Military Police () is the military police of the Romanian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1990, immediately after the Romanian Revolution, although the Romanian Gendarmerie (also re-established in 1990) performed military police duties between 1850 and 1949.
Mission
The duties of the Military Police are: Controls the military personnel and documents Controls and maintains discipline in places/crowded areas frequented by military personnel and eliminates any conflicts between military personnel or military personnel and civilians Maintains the security during military exercises/parades Prevents the smuggling of illegal devices/materials/substances into the military units/bases Maintains the safety and discipline at military tribunals Apprehends deserters in cooperation with the Police, Gendarmerie, Romanian Intelligence Service and other agencies Prevents, independently or in cooperation with other forces, the stealing of military equipment, ammunition, armament and any other devices from military bases Maintains, when ordered, the security of the military detainees May undertake search and rescue/evacuation missions, together with the Romanian Inspectorate for Emergency Situations/Gendarmerie/other Romanian Ministry of Interior forces, of civilian/military persons, in case of earthquakes, floods, or other disasters, and takes measures to limit/eliminate their causes (when possible) and their consequences.
History
Beginnings
The history of the Romanian Military Police is closely related to the history of the Romanian Gendarmerie, because the provost policing was a task of the Gendarmerie since its inception.
It should also be noticed that at first the Gendarmerie was placed under the command of the Ministry of War. The archaic term of "troops' police" could be found starting with 1850 in the structure of the armed forces, but the day when the military police was established in its modern form was 5 November 1893. On that day King Carol I promulgated the Law of Rural Gendarmerie. As a part of this corps, the Military Police branch was tasked with the following duties: to act as judiciary police to search and arrest AWOLs and disobedient troops to arrest military personnel without proper documents while on leave to arrest/annihilate dangerous armed gangs to repel the attacks against guards to repel the attempts of prisoners to escape to search for illegal caches of weapons and ammunition to inform the population about mobilisation
In 1908, 1911 and 1913, new laws and regulations regarding the activity of military police forces were issued in order to increase its efficiency. To avoid any confusions, the new Law of Gendarmerie promulgated on March 24, 1908, mentioned the following:
Art.6: The Gendarmerie corps is a part of the Army. The dispositions of military rules and orders are applicable except some specific situations because of its mixed organisation – both civilian and military – and specific tasks. Art.7: The officers will be recruited from the army's personnel. The nominated persons will be assigned to the Gendarmerie troops by King's order, who will issue a High Royal decree.
The same law stated that: "During military operations the Gendarmerie will act as Military Police in order to manage accurately the military traffic, the escort of prisoners and to assure the security of main objectives and installations".
In 1913–1916, some modifications regarding the MP organisation and strength were made and the corps was tasked with new duties, especially related to the security of some important economical areas (oil fields) and factories (mainly those factories who were producing military equipment and machinery).
World War I
During World War I the Military Police corps performed all its specific tasks, including combat missions, and provided assistance to the civilian population. The evolution of the events placed the Gendarmerie alternatively under the command of Ministry of War and Ministry of Interior.
In 1917 the Gendarmerie was reassigned to the Ministry of War. Therefore, Gendarmerie detachments were assigned to the General Staff headquarters as well. These detachments were led by infantry officers and their strength consisted of 27 gendarmes.
During the interwar period, the Gendarmerie was placed again under Ministry of Interior command, until 12 September 1940.