The Mobile Carabinier

Carabinier

A Carabinier was originally a cavalry soldier armed with a carbine...

 Squadrons (Escuadrones Móviles de Carabineros in Spanish) (EMCAR) are specialised units of the Colombian National Police

Colombian National Police

The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...

, part of its Directorate of Carabineers and Rural Security (Dirección de Carabineros y Seguridad Rural or DICAR). The mission of these mobile squadrons is to provide highway security, control traffic and prevent accidents. Among their objectives is to interact and socialize with civilians to create neighborhood watch

Neighborhood watch

A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch , also called a crime watch or neighborhood crime watch, is an organized group of citizens devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood...

 and collaboration.

History

Implemented during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002 - present), this unit was intended to support the democratic security

Democratic security

Democratic security or Democratic security policy refers to a Colombian security policy implemented during the administration of President Álvaro Uribe...

 plan, whose main objective was to restore order and establish police presence in lawless towns and rural areas. They were a special rural police force that carried out counterinsurgency missions, frequently in conjunction with army units. Headquartered at the department and national territory capitals, the Carabineros were maintained in squadrons that were separate from those of the regular police; they wore distinctive uniforms and often traveled as mounted and/or motorized units.

Unit organization

The EMCAR were initially organized into 62 Mobile Squadrons of 150 Carabiniers each between 2002 and 2006.

A Carabinier Mobile Squadron is usually composed of 4 National Police Officers

Colombian National Police officer rank insignia

This chart represents the Colombian National Police officer rank insignia.The Officer Corps of the Colombian National Police forms the commanding level of the institution, starting with the rank of Sub-lieutenant escalating to the grade of General.-General:...

, 12 non-commissioned officers and 134 patrolmen or agents.

External links

• Carabineros Official Site