Over the Years

 Tracing the roots…Cyprus Police Service

The Republic of Cyprus came into being on 16 August 1960. The reluctant republic, as it has often been termed, has had a long history of ethnic conflicts and tensions amongst its Turkish and Greek populations.

Policing in Cyprus

After achieving independence from Britain in 1960, Cyprus predictably retained the structure of the police similar to that of the British police. After 1960, two separate forces carried out policing in the country i.e. one for the urban areas, named "Police", and one for the rural areas, named "Gendarmeries". A Greek Cypriot Chief and a Turkish Cypriot Chief administered these forces, respectively.

The Two Structures

The constitutional system broke down after the Christmas crisis in 1963 where shots were exchanged between Greek-Cypriot police and a Turkish-Cypriot motorist. Thereafter, each community subsequently provided its own police. The Turkish Cypriot police was originally an arm of the paramilitary; after 1974 it operated under the Turkish Cypriot Security Force, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense and the Ministry of the Interior of the Turkish Cypriot administration in the north. New legislation in 1984 redefined its structure, but it continued to be accountable to the commander of the Turkish Cypriot Security Force.

The Cyprus Police Force mainly Greek in composition in contrast was a force organisationally and operationally separate from the National Guard, within the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Cyprus. After 1963, the police of the government of Cyprus assumed no responsibility for the Turkish Cypriot community.

The Police Force as of now…

The Cyprus Police has the authority to act throughout the territory of the Republic. This authority, emanates from the following legislations:

• Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus
• Police Law, 73 (1)/2004
• Police Regulations
• Police Standing Orders (issued by the Chief of Police)
• Criminal Code, Cap. 154
• Criminal Procedure, Cap. 155

It should be noted that after the 1974 Turkish invasion to the island and occupation of about 37% of the territory of the Cyprus Republic, the Police consequently exercise control only to the areas still remaining under the Cyprus government.
The mission of the Cyprus Police is "the maintenance of law and public order throughout the Republic, the preservation of peace, the prevention and detection of crime and apprehension of offenders."

The police in Cyprus is organised into a hierarchical structure with the Chief of the Police at the top and constables at the bottom. The total strength of the police at the end of August 2004 was 3827 and 13.2% of this were women. There is however, no information available as to the number of police officers from the Turkish community in the territory still under the Cyprus government.