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Law enforcement in Qatar comes under the control of the Ministry of Interior of Qatar, which administers the Police Force of the State of Qatar. Both women and men are admitted to the Police Force, and they are required to attend a police academy before being admitted.
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History
The first police agency in Qatar was formed in September 1949 as the 'Discipline Police'. It was centered in the Doha Police Station in Souq Waqif. Its duties involved traffic control and law enforcement. In a response to widespread protests which broke out in Qatar in 1956, then-emir Ali Al Thani began heavily investing in the police force. As a result, a new police headquarters was built during the 1950s.
Organisation
The Police Force is under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was created in 1970.
The Police Force consists of a large number of divisions and departments. Departments which encompass the Police Force include a National Central Bureau of Interpol, criminal intelligence departments, investigation and inquest departments, drug abuse control departments, civil defense departments, human resources departments, medical departments, and traffic police departments.
Qatar Police Force
In 2006, the Police Force comprised 2,500 individuals. They are responsible for enforcing the laws and arresting law violators.
Qatar State Security
Qatar State Security is a branch of the Ministry of Interior which are responsible for matters relating to political disputes, terrorism, and espionage. They were formed as a result of a merger between the Secret Police Office and Investigation and State Security Service.
Training
Police officers are required to attend the police academy in Doha before they can be admitted into the force. Historically, the Police Force was overwhelmingly composed of males. There were only 30 females in the Police Force prior to 2003. That year, a whole female squadron with 107 women graduated from Qatar's police academy for the first time in history.
In December 2013, Qatar's emir Tamim Al Thani passed a decree to establish a four-year police college. A police official stated that the objective of establishing the institution was to create a highly trained police force which would be able to maintain security in large events such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The college opened in August 2014 with an enrollment of 130 students and a budget of QR 2.5 bn.