National Police of East Timor

National Police of East Timor
National Police of East Timor
Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste
Abbreviation PNTL
PNTLbadge.jpg
Coat of Arms of the National Police of East Timor
Agency overview
Formed May, 2002
Preceding agency East Timor Police Service
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency East Timor
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Dili, East Timor
Agency executive Lounginhos Monteiro, Chief of Police

The National Police of East Timor (Portuguese: Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste or PNTL) is the national police force of East Timor.

History

The PNTL was established in May 2002 by the United Nations, before sovereignty was passed to the new state, with a mandate to provide security and maintain law and order throughout the country, and to enable the rapid development of a credible, professional and impartial police service. Recruitment drives were conducted in early 2000, and basic training commenced on March 27, 2000, under the auspices of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). On August 10, 2001, the East Timor Police Service was officially established, working alongside CivPol, the United Nations Civilian Police Force. It later changed its name to the Timor-Leste Police Service, before finally adopting its current title of the Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste.

It was not until independence, on May 20, 2002, that an agreement was signed outlining the terms and timetable for handing over of full policing duties from CivPol to the PNTL. The PNTL finally assumed responsibility for the whole country on December 10, 2003.

There are at least three special units within the PNTL: the Police Reserve Unit, formerly the Rapid Deployment Service; the Border Patrol Unit; and the Rapid Intervention Unit, or UIR, modelled after the Portuguese National Republican Guard riot police, which served in East Timor before its independence.[1]

References

  1. ^ PARTIDO DEMOCRATICO TIMOR-LESTE: Ramos Horta calls for death squad claims probe

External links