Agencyname: | Special Police Units |
Nativename: | Posebne jedinice policije |
Abbreviation: | PJP |
Superseding: | Gendarmery |
Employees: | 5,000 |
Country: | Serbia |
Governingbody: | Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia) |
Headquarters: | Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Užice, Niš |
Chief1position: | Commander |
Chief1name: | Obrad Stevanović |
Unittype: | Special forces |
The Special Police Units or Police Special Units (Serbian: Posebne jedinice policije|italics=yes, PJP) was a special police force unit of Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP).[1] It had several detachments and was part of the sector of the State Security Directorate. It was disbanded on 28 June 2001 when it was replaced by the re-establishment of the Gendarmery.
Between 1994 and 1996 it was commanded by Obrad Stevanović. During the Kosovo War (1998–99), the force had an estimated 5,000 or 7,000 men. The PJP detachments were based at Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Užice, Niš and Priština. It is believed that it was commanded by Obrad Stevanović, now the head of police. Its elite unit was the "Lightning" (Munje) unit, according to M. McAllester partly made up of "some of Yugoslavia's most dangerous criminals". Among other special units active in the war was the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), a separate part of the MUP.[2]