Ethiopia
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 380-383 |
Page 380
Official country name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Capital: Addis Ababa
Geographic description: A landlocked country in the Horn of Africa
Population: 73,053,286 (est. 2005)
History. The first formal Ethiopian police force was formed in 1935 in Addis Ababa and four other cities, where they were trained by British instructors. The Imperial Ethiopian Police was organized in 1942 under British auspices as a centralized national police force with paramilitary and constabulary units.
In 1956 the separate urban police forces were merged with the national police. Originally administered as a department of the Ministry of the Interior, the national police evolved by the 1970s into an independent agency commanded by a commissioner of police directly responsible to the emperor. Local control over the police was minimal, despite imperial proclamations that granted governors general police authority in their regions. Assistant police commissioners in each district were assigned to work in conjunction with the governors general, but in practice administration was directed from Addis Ababa. The national police force was, however, assisted by the regional units of the Territorial Army, which was commanded by the governor general, and by an unpaid civilian auxiliary in remote areas.
Police posts were found in all cities and larger towns and at strategic points along the main roads in the countryside. The police were usually locally recruited and were familiar with the areas they served, but they were viewed as hostile by the general populace. Police operations generally emphasized a punitive rather than a preventive function.
By 1974 the national police numbered approximately 28,000 in all branches, including 6,800 in a mobile emergency force, 1,200 frontier guards, and a 3,200-member commando unit with rapid reaction capability. Paramilitary forces were equipped with weapons and vehicles provided by West Germany and commandos and frontier guards were trained by Israelis. About 5,000 constabulary police, mostly recruited locally, and 2,500 commandos were stationed in Eritrea.
One of the first acts of the Communist military government, known as the Dergue, or Provisional Military Administrative Council, after the 1974 coup
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that ended the monarchy, was to circumscribe the authority of the national police, which was strongly identified with the old regime. Police constables were accused of protecting landowners against peasants in the country-side and arresting supporters of the military regime in Addis Ababa.
The national police were thoroughly reorganized after 1977. Overall, command was vested in a commissioner who was loyal to the Communist rulers...
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