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. Equipment generally consists of a fluorescent yellow police vest, flashlight, radio, firearm, handcuffs and whatever else may be required particular to the assignment. Equipment is returned at the end of the shift. Most volunteers manage about one shift a week (2 to 4+ hours), while the minimum requirement is 12 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 (dismantled), dune buggy riders (dismantled), bicycle-riders, search-and-rescue teams, cavalry (dismantled), divers, translators, and drivers), 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).
Recently, due to main power issues in the police, the "Classics" are now sent to courses in order to be uniformed and assist the police. The Auxiliary Police and the regular police are assuming almost the same functions when they are patrolling together.
The main difference of the Israeli Auxiliary Police forces to their counter part worldwide is that:
Off duty they don't have any power. It is absolutely forbidden to them to help the law enforcement when off duty. Off duty they can't prevent a crime in progress nor show their identities in order to prevent it.
Lately they received new ID’s showing that they are Auxiliary Police and not Police. The discrimination gap from the police is more visible.
When they are injured they are considered as civilian by the government. And they are considered as officers by the insurance companies. Insurance companies are avoiding them.
The authorities are almost blind and just sending the injured Auxiliary Police to the National Insurance who is considering the case as a normal daily work accident. Every year from 70.000 Auxiliary Police 250 (known) are injured and not covered. Their normal police officer counterpart are receiving full coverage in case of injuries.
This engrossing gap is causing frustration in the community of Auxiliary Police which during a mission is assuming the same responsibilities of a police officer but not covered as their normal counterpart.
The Civil Guard was established on 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.
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