British South Africa Police
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Until 1899, the force also policed parts of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
The organisation was formed by the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes in 1889/1890 as a paramilitary, mounted infantry force in order to provide protection for the Pioneer Column. The unit played a central role in both the First Matabele War (1893) and the Second Matabele War (1896/97). Until 1897 the force was called the British South Africa Company's Police. The BSAP operated originally in conjunction with the Southern Rhodesia Constabulary (SRC), the town police force for Salisbury (now Harare) and Bulawayo, but amalgamated with the SRC in 1909. As a paramilitary unit, the BSAP fought in the Second Boer War and in Tanganyika during World War I, while some members were seconded to the Rhodesia Native Regiment. From 1923, Rhodesia was a self-governing colony of the British Empire, but the BSAP retained its title and its position as the senior regiment of the Rhodesian armed forces.
A Criminal Investigation Department was founded in 1923; a Women's Section in 1941, and a Dog Unit in 1945. From 1957, the Police Reserve also had an airborne wing. The years following the World War II saw the rise of African nationalism in many British African colonies.
The BSAP's name remained unchanged by the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, although following the declaration of a republic by Ian Smith's government in 1970, the crown was removed from the BSAP's badge.
During the period of the Second Chimurenga or Bush War during the late 1960s and 1970s, the BSAP formed an important part of the white minority government's fight against black nationalist guerrillas. The force formed a riot unit; a tracker combat team (later renamed the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit or PATU); an Urban Emergency Unit and a Marine Division, and from 1973 offered places to white conscripts as part of Rhodesia's national service scheme. At independence, the force had a strength of approximately 11,000 regulars (about 60% black) and almost 35,000 reservists, of whom the overwhelming majority were white.
Until the late 1970s, black Rhodesians were prevented from holding ranks higher than Sub-Inspector in the BSAP, and only white Rhodesians could gain commissioned rank. After independence, the force followed an official policy of "Africanisation", in which senior white officers were retired and their positions filled by black officers.
The British South Africa Police was renamed the Zimbabwe Republic Police following the election of Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in April 1980.
[edit] References
- The Regimental Association of the British South Africa Police
- Scouting on Two Continents, by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O. LC call number: DT775 .B8 1926. (1926)
- Radford, M., 1994. Service Before Self, privately published.
- Gibbs, P., & Phillips, H., 2000. The History of the British South Africa Police, Something of Value Publications, Victoria, Australia.
- Kent Rasmussen, R., & Rubert, S. C., 1990. Historical Dictionary of Zimbabwe, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J., USA.
