Milicja Obywatelska

Milicja Obywatelska MO Citizens' Militia
Milicja patch
Collar patch known as palemka
Common name	Milicja
Abbreviation	MO
Agency overview
Formed	7 October 1944
Dissolved	10 May 1990
Superseding agency	Policja
Employees	80,000 (1980s)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	Polish People's Republic
Operations jurisdiction	Polish People's Republic
General nature	Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Warsaw
Agency executive	Franciszek Jóźwiak, as first Chief Commander
Parent agency	Ministry of Public Security (UB) Ministry of Internal Affairs
Child agency	ZOMO, ORMO

Milicja Obywatelska (MO; Polish pronunciation: [miˈlit͡sja ɔbɨvaˈtɛlska]), known as the Citizens' Militia in English , was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic.

The MO was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Liberation under Chief Commander Franciszek Jóźwiak to police Red Army controlled areas of Poland during World War II.^[2] It became the official police force with the founding of the Polish People's Republic in 1947, effectively replacing the pre-war Policja as the main uniformed civilian police of Poland during the communist era. The MO was headquartered in Warsaw while training for the force was conducted in the town of Legionowo.

The MO was supported by two paramilitary formations: the elite Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (ZOMO) and the reservist Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (ORMO). In most cases it represented a state-controlled force used to exert political repression, especially with its elite ZOMO squads. The MO continued to exist after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 until it was transformed back into Policja on 10 May 1990.