National Police of Uruguay

National Police of Uruguay
Policía Nacional de Uruguay
National Police Coat of Arms
National Police Coat of Arms
Common namePolicía Nacional
Motto"De tu lado"
"On your side"
Agency overview
FormedDecember 18, 1829[1]
Jurisdictional structure
National agencyUruguay
Operations jurisdictionUruguay
Governing bodyCabinet of Uruguay
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersMontevideo, Uruguay
Officers30.000 (2015)[2]
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Website
www.minterior.gub.uy

The National Police of Uruguay is a national and institutional police force of the Republic of Uruguay, founded on December 18, 1829.[5] It depends on the Executive Power through the Ministry of the Interior. Its assigned responsibility is to ensure compliance of laws in its population and to prevent crimes.[6]

Creation

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On December 18, 1829, the Constitutional and Legislative Assembly of the Eastern State created the office of Political Chief in each of the nine departments. Standing as Political and Police Chief in the whole national territory, Colonel Don Ignacio Oribe.

Structure

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The Director of the National Police is the fourth in command in the Ministry of the Interior. The following police units depend on the National Police Directorate:[7]

  • National Directorate of Police Education (Dirección Nacional de la Educación Policial) 
  • National Aviation Directorate of the National Police (Dirección Nacional de Aviación de la Policía Nacional)
  • National Directorate of Gender Policies (Dirección Nacional de Políticas de Género)
  • National Directorate of Police Health (Dirección Nacional de Sanidad Policial)
  • National Directorate of Police Assistance and Social Security (Dirección Nacional de Asistencia y Seguridad Social Policial)
  • National Fire Department (Dirección Nacional de Bomberos)
  • National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación)
  • National Directorate of Support for the Released (Dirección Nacional de Apoyo al Liberado)
  • National Directorate of Civil Identification (Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil)
  • National Directorate of Migration (Dirección Nacional de Migración)
  • National Highway Police Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Policía de Caminera)
  • National Scientific Police Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Policía Científica)
  • Directorate of Investigations of the National Police (Dirección de Investigaciones de la Policía Nacional)
  • General Directorate for the Fight against Organized Crime and INTERPOL (Dirección General de Lucha contra el Crimen Organizado e INTERPOL)
  • General Directorate for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (Dirección General de Represión al Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas)
  • National Directorate of Information and Intelligence (Dirección Nacional de Información e Inteligencia)
  • National Directorate Republican Guard (Dirección Nacional Guardia Republicana)

Equipment

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Ground vehicles

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Highway patrol van (Policía Caminera)
Peugeot 301 patrol vehicle
Peugeot 301 patrol vehicle (back view)

Commonly used vehicles:

Vehicle Origin Type In service
Toyota Hilux  Japan Patrol Unknown
Nissan Navara  Japan Patrol Unknown
Hyundai Starex  South Korea Transport Unknown
Fiat Siena[8]  Italy Patrol Unknown
Peugeot 301[9]  France Patrol Unknown
Chevrolet Sail  United States Patrol Unknown
Mitsubishi Mirage (LA MY15)  Japan Patrol Unknown
Mitsubishi L200  Japan Patrol Unknown
JAC Refine S2  China Patrol Unknown

Motorcycles

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Commonly used motorbikes:

Vehicle Origin Type In service
KTM Adventure[10]  Austria Patrol Unknown

Aircraft units

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The unit's current inventory includes the following:[11][12]

Aircraft Origin Type In service
Robinson R66  United States Policing 4
Cessna 182  United States Policing 1

Weapons

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Uruguayan police officer in the daily work uniform

Firearms used by the National Police in its different departments:[13]

Weapon Origin Type
Glock 17  Austria Semi-automatic pistol
Glock 19  Austria Semi-automatic pistol

Uniform

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The daily work uniform consists of dark blue cloth combat pants with a dark blue shirt or a long-sleeved button-down shirt, black boots, a plain baseball cap with the national police logo and the bulletproof vest on top. Officers may also wear a reflective vest or winter jacket that says "police" on the back.[14]

Other equipment

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Some officers also have body cameras.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "187º Aniversario de la Policía Nacional".
  2. ^ "Uruguay: País con más policías por habitantes". March 19, 2015.
  3. ^ "Autoridades".
  4. ^ "Autoridades".
  5. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "187º Aniversario de la Policía Nacional" [187th Anniversary of the National Police]. Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. ^ "Ley N° 19315". Centro de Información Oficial. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  7. ^ "Direcciones Nacionales".
  8. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "Nuevas unidades". Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  9. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "Ministerio del Interior adquirió 70 patrulleros". Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  10. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "Ministerio del Interior adquirió nuevas motos para la Policía Nacional". Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  11. ^ InfoDefensa, Revista Defensa. "La Policía de Uruguay recibe su cuarto helicóptero Robinson". Infodefensa - Noticias de defensa, industria, seguridad, armamento, ejércitos y tecnología de la defensa (in Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  12. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "El Ministerio del Interior presentó un nuevo helicóptero". Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  13. ^ Interior, Ministerio del. "Por la renovación: vestimenta y equipamiento adecuado para la Policía". Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Interior, Ministerio del. "Ministerio del Interior adquirió 300 nuevas cámaras corporales" [Ministry of the Interior acquired 300 new body cameras]. Ministerio del Interior (in European Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
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