Military police
police organization part of the military of a state
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state that usually is assigned to enforce military law. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reconnaissance, logistic traffic management, counterinsurgency, and detainee handling.
In different countries it may refer to:
A section of military forces assigned to police, or garrison, occupied territories, usually during a war.
A section of military forces assigned to policing prisoners of war detentions.
A section of the military responsible for policing the areas of responsibility of the armed forces (referred to as provosts) against all criminal activity by military or civilian personnel
A section of the military responsible for policing in both the armed forces and in the civilian population (most gendarmeries, such as the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri or the Spanish Guardia Civil)
A section of the military solely responsible for policing the civilian population (such as the Turkish Jandarma, Romanian Gendarmerie or the Chilean Carabineros)
The status of military police is usually prominently displayed on the helmet or peaked cap, with an armband, brassard, or arm or shoulder flash. Military police personnel may also wear a more traditional police badge, usually on the front of their uniform. They may also wear other accoutrements exclusive to military police personnel.
Naval police personnel are sometimes called "masters-at-arms" and/or "shore patrol". Law enforcement personnel of an air force are sometimes called "air police", "security police" or "security forces".
Military police by country
Americas
Brazil
"Military police" is a law enforcement agency which follows the Brazilian military rules, responsible for preventative policing of the civilian population.
“Military police” enters the record as police organization part of the military of a state. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Military, police and organization can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Military police” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Military, police and organization provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q210815. The Library of Congress control number is sh85085263. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Military police” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.