page_title: ZOMO
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: ZOMO / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Polski: ZOMO przyjechało na akcję - rysunek z czasów stanu wojennego, aut. Maciej Miezian
context_page_description: The ZOMO, known in English as Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia, were paramilitary-police formations during the communist era in Poland. These purportedly elite units of Citizens' Militia were created to fight dangerous criminals, provide security during mass events, and help in the case of natural disasters and other crises; however, they became known instead for their brutal and sometimes lethal actions of riot control and their role in quelling civil rights protests.
  The first ZOMO units were deployed in 1956 and became particularly infamous for their ruthless handling of political opponents under Polish martial law. It was permanently disbanded after the fall of communism in 1989, though the term "ZOMO" remains synonymous with police brutality to this day.
context_section_description: The ZOMO's last action took place on July 3, 1989, when they dispersed a demonstration against the presidential candidature of General Wojciech Jaruzelski, former First Secretary and head of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON). The units were disbanded on September 7, 1989, following the fall of the communist system, and replaced with the OPP (riot control) and SPAP (rapid response and counter-terrorism) units of Policja (the Polish police).
  In today's Poland the word "ZOMO" (or zomowiec, the ZOMO-man) is a pejorative term used by protesters to denote all kinds of riot police (just as the word Gestapo is sometimes shouted out to describe police brutality).
caption: "ZOMO arrived for an action", a political caricature from the 1980s showing ZOMO squads forming the word "Gestapo"
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