Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state.
The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:
The status of military police is usually prominently displayed on the helmet and/or on an armband, brassard, or arm or shoulder flash. In the Second World War, the military police of the German Army still used a metal gorget as an emblem.
The Military Police Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (Hebrew: חֵיל הַמִּשְׁטָרָה הַצְּבָאִית, Heil HaMishtara HaTzva'it) is the Israeli military police and provost. The military police serves the Manpower Directorate during peace time, and the Technological and Logistics Directorate during war.
The military police is a brigade-sized of about 4,500, currently headed by Brigadier General Golan Maimon. It is responsible for various law enforcement duties, including aiding IDF commanders in enforcing discipline, guarding the military prisons, locating deserters, investigating crimes committed by soldiers, and helping man the Israeli checkpoints in the Palestinian territories.
The corps puts an emphasis on discipline and follows the principle of A Choice in Life, which says no to traffic accidents, narcotics, alcohol, suicide and improper use of weapons.
The IDF's Military Police Corps traces its roots to a Jewish youth paramilitary organization called Notrim, founded in 1936. It was legal under British Mandate law, unlike its many counterparts such as the Haganah. Its original purpose was to defend and police Jewish yishuv localities during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. In 1937, the organization was given permission to expand, due to lack of British manpower allocated for defending Jewish villages in Palestine.
Sõjaväepolitsei are the Military Police of the Estonian Defence Forces (http://www.mil.ee). The Estonian MP organization was created in 1994 and is today divided into tactical (patrol) and investigative units. Additionally conscript based reserve- MP platoons are trained in Guard Battalion every year. MP tasks include: investigation of serious disciplinary cases and some armed service- related crimes, supervision of military discipline within the Forces, military traffic control and various security tasks. Within conflict/crises areas (Afghanistan) the MP may provide close protection of the Estonian national representative and other visiting VIPs. When on regular patrol assignment, Estonian MPs wear a black brassard on their right shoulder, with the letters SP in silver, and are usually equipped with an HK USP 9 mm pistol, spare magazines, radio, handcuffs, pepper spray and an expandable police baton.