Law enforcement in Poland

During the period of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's existence, most law enforcement was undertaken by a group of nobles of varying degrees of importance who possessed private armies and who, in return for political power and a place within the nation's social hierarchy, swore their allegiance, and that of their mercenary troops, to the king.

In both the Russian and German territories of former Poland, it was widely reported that law enforcement agencies and paramilitaries engaged in both the oppression of Polish political organisations and the forced assimilation of local culture with those of their own nations.

During the inter-war period, a number of key law enforcement duties were delegated to other formations, such as the Border Guard[4] and Military Gendarmerie.

[5] With the end of World War II and the onset of the communist period, the new Soviet backed government decided to radically change to structure of policing in Poland; the state 'Policja' was renamed as the 'Milicja Obywatelska' (Citizen's Militia), a name which was meant to reflect a change in the role of the police, from an instrument of oppression ensuring the position of the bourgeoisie, to a force composed of, and at the service of 'normal citizens'.

The Milicja was, for the most part, detested by the general populace; events such as the police's conduct during the Gdańsk Shipyard Strike and surrounding the Popiełuszko affair, only worsened the people's view of their law enforcement agencies.

They have the authority to issue warnings, impose fines for violations, identify individuals when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed, arrest those who pose an immediate threat, and, in isolated cases, conduct body searches.