Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 13, 2026

Constabulary

Constabulary may have several definitions:A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title. Constables also exist in some U.S. states including Texas and Pennsylvania. In English-speaking Canada, the starting rank of all police officers is Constable. The provincial police service of Newfoundland and Labrador is the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. This term reflects the force's history of having been modelled after the Royal Irish Constabulary. In this case, Constabulary is used in the same sense in which it is used in the UK. A large civil police force organised and trained along military lines, which may contain paramilitary elements. This is the usual definition in places outside Great Britain such as the former Royal Irish Constabulary, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Jamaica Constabulary Force. A military or paramilitary type force consisting of soldiers trained for police duties. Mostly established by the United States in the several countries over which it had protective status e.g. Philippine Constabulary; United States Constabulary in West Germany after World War II. These forces also performed military functions by maintaining "mobile forces" of organised units.

Last revised
Jul 13, 2026
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Constabulary may have several definitions:

Current police services titled Constabulary

Constabularies in Great Britain

Constabularies in Commonwealth nations

Constabularies in the Netherlands

Historical constabularies

Philippines
Great Britain
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Free City of Danzig
United States
Malaysia
  • North Borneo Constabulary – The paramilitary police force of North Borneo from 1800s to 1963 where it was officially incorporated into Royal Malaysia Police shortly after the formation of Malaysia.
  • Sarawak Constabulary – The paramilitary police force of Kingdom of Sarawak from 1800s to 1963 where it was officially incorporated into Royal Malaysia Police shortly after the formation of Malaysia.
South Africa
Further reading

Further reading

References

References

External links