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Civil Guard (Israel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Spanish Civil Guard, see Civil Guard (Spain).
The Civil Guard (Hebrew: משמר אזרחי, Mishmar Ezrahi), often abbreviated in Hebrew to Mash'az (משא"ז) is a volunteer organization of Israeli citizens which assists in daily police work. It is a subdivision of the Israel Police.
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As of today, the Civil Guard is a division in the "Police and Community" branch of the Israel Police. The Civil Guard is managed and supported by the police which provide weapons, equipment, training and police officers who command local Civil Guard bases (each community has one or more Civil Guard bases). Although the Civil Guard is operated by the police, its manpower consists mainly of civilian volunteers. Members are trained to provide the initial response to a security situation until the police arrive. Most Civil Guard volunteers are armed with M1 Carbines and personal handguns (if the member has a civilian gun license). The Civil Guard is composed mainly of "classic" volunteers who do patrols (in car or on foot) once in a while. They go through basic training and have [sometimes limited] police powers while on duty. They may apprehend a suspected person or even make an arrest if necessary. They are equipped with glow-in-the-dark police jacket and communication with their base. They return their gear at the end of their duty. Most volunteers get about one patrol shift a week (2-4 hours), while the minimum requirement is 4 hours a month.
There are also Matmid (מתמי"ד) volunteers which operate far more intensively than "Classic"s in regular police work. Yatam (ית"מ) volunteers mainly operate in traffic control. Both Matmid and Yatam are more like volunteer police officers. They have almost all the authorities of a regular police officer. They receive advanced training and wear regular police uniforms.
The Civil Guard also has special units (such as snipers, dune buggy riders, bicycle-riders, search-and-rescue teams, cavalry and divers), but their members have to go through additional training and have a higher level of commitment (they have to volunteer for more hours a month).
The Civil Guard was established in July 10, 1974 as a group of civilians volunteered to do night patrols in near-border neighborhoods, which were exposed to Palestinian terror attacks, and in particular following the Ma'alot massacre of May 15, 1974.
Later, the focus was shifted from counter terror patrols to assist daily police work such as fighting crime and neighborhood violence.
In 2004, the Civil Guard reportedly had some 70,000 volunteers, 28% of them women. Some 20,000 new volunteers joined that year and 17,000 left the service. The typical volunteer profile is a 40-55 years-old upper-middle-class male, married with children. Due to the high level of required commitment, some 20% of all volunteers quit during their first year of service.
Between 1974-2004, over half a million citizens volunteered for the Civil Guard.
- Civil Guard website (as part of the Israel Police website)