British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police ( BSAP ) was , for most of its existence , the police force of Rhodesia ( renamed Zimbabwe in 1980 ) . It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes ' British South Africa Company , from which it took its original name , the British South Africa Company ' s Police . Initially run directly by the company , it began to operate independently in 1896 , at which time it also dropped " Company ' s " from its name . It thereafter served as Rhodesia ' s regular police force , retaining its name , until 1980 , when it was superseded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police , soon after the country ' s reconstitution into Zimbabwe in April that year . While it was in the main a law enforcement organisation , the line between police and military was significantly blurred . BSAP officers trained both as policemen and regular soldiers until 1954 . BSAP men served in the latter role during the First and Second World Wars , and also provided several support units to the Rhodesian Bush War of the 1960s and 1970s . During the Bush War , the BSAP operated several anti - guerrilla units , most prominently the Police Anti - Terrorist Unit , which tracked and engaged nationalist guerrillas ; the Support Unit , which was a police field force , nicknamed the " Black Boots " because of their distinctive footwear ; and the Civilian African Tracking Unit , composed mostly of black Rhodesian trackers utilising the traditional skills and techniques of the Rhodesian Shangaan people . By 1980 , the BSAP comprised about 46 , 000 officers in all ; 11 , 000 regulars ( about 60 % black ) , and the remainder reservists ( almost all white ) . The organisation ' s rank structure was unique , with different levels of seniority existing for black and white officers respectively . Until 1979 , black officers could rise no further than sub - inspector , while the commissioned ranks were all - white . Limitations on black aspirations were removed in 1979 , when the country was reconstituted into black majority - ruled Zimbabwe Rhodesia , but white officers still retained most of the top ranks a year later , when Zimbabwe was formed . Under Robert Mugabe , the Zimbabwe Republic Police immediately adopted a policy whereby senior whites were retired at the earliest opportunity and replaced by black officers . History . The organisation was formed by the BSAC in 1889 as a paramilitary , mounted infantry force in order to provide protection for the Pioneer Column of settlers which moved into Mashonaland in 1890 . The unit played a central role in both the First Matabele War ( 1893 ) and the Second Matabele War ( 1896 / 97 ) . Until 1896 the force was called the British South Africa Company ' s Police . The BSAP operated originally in conjunction with the Southern Rhodesia Constabulary ( SRC ) , the town police force for Salisbury ( now Harare ) and Bulawayo , but amalgamated with the SRC in 1909 . As a paramilitary unit , the BSAP fought in the Second Boer War and in Tanganyika during World War I , while some members were seconded to the Rhodesia Native Regiment . From 1923 , Southern Rhodesia was a self - governing colony of the British Empire , but the BSAP retained its title and its position as the senior regiment of the Southern Rhodesian armed forces . One of the first casualties of the BSAP in World War II was Keppel Bagot Levett , born in 1919 , who died in active service with the BSAP in March 1941 . A Criminal Investigation Department was founded in 1923 ; a Women ' s Section in 1941 , and a Dog Unit in 1945 . From 1957 , the Police Reserve also had an airborne wing . Between the World Wars , the Permanent Staff Corps of the Rhodesian Army consisted on only 47 men . The BSAP were trained as both policemen and soldiers until 1954 . Prior to the use of motor vehicles , extended rural patrols were carried out on horseback , and right up until the Force was renamed all white male officers were taught equitation as part of their basic traíning . Selected officers were retained in Morris Depot after " passing out " and tasked with training remount horses for future use by recruits and on ceremonial duties . Mounted Escorts were provided for occasions such as the state opening of Parliament . Generally speaking , the force was the ' Senior Service ' and performed ceremonials such as those allocated to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police today . As such discipline , presentation , and parade drill were of a very high standard . The BSAP ' s name remained unchanged by the Unilateral Declaration of Independence , although following the declaration of a republic by Ian Smith ' s government in 1970 , the crown was removed from the BSAP ' s badge . During the period of the Rhodesian Bush War in the late 1960s and 1970s , the BSAP formed an important part of the white minority government ' s fight against black Communist guerrillas . The force formed a riot unit ; a tracker combat team ( later renamed the Police Anti - Terrorist Unit or PATU ) ; a police field force Support Unit ( who were distinquished by wearing black boots ) , an Urban Emergency Unit , a Police Reserve Air Wing or PRAW , and a Marine Division , and from 1973 offered places to white conscripts as part of Rhodesia ' s national service scheme . At independence , the force had a strength of approximately 11 , 000 regulars ( about 60 % black ) and almost 35 , 000 reservists , of whom the overwhelming majority were white . A former BSAP officer , Daniel Carney wrote a book titled " Whispering Death " about the BSAP in anti - terrorist operations which was later made into the film " Albino " . The Support Unit ( known as the " Black Boots " due to their footwear ) was a Police field force staffed by about 30 - 40 white and 300 black regular and national servicemen . Their additional training consisted of a four - weeks long Counter - Insurgency ( COIN ) training , small - arms and driving courses amongst others . Their primary task was to patrol the long distances in the Tribal Trust Lands , to maintain and reinstate order in the kraal s ( native villages ) . In the late 1970s a Civilian African Tracking Unit ( C . A . T . U . ) was added , to relieve the professional trackers in the pursuing of the enemy infiltrators into Rhodesia . Their tracking methods were based on the traditional skills and techniques of the Rhodesian Shangaan tribe . Their formations were called ' sticks ' , and consisted of a couple of white Rhodesian ' Patrol Officers ' , or ' Section Officers ' , and six to eight black Rhodesian trackers . Police Reservists and regular police officers organised in a similar way were called the Police Anti Terrorist Unit or PATU . Police of all ranks to chief inspector , were obliged to perform PATU secondment on a regular rotation basis , and deployed to operational areas . Riot standby units were also maintained to deal with urban civil disorder on the same basis . Counter insurgency and advanced weapons training were mandatory by 1970s in anticipation of PATU and district duties . A district ( rural ) police station with a strength of anything from a dozen to forty personnel was often required to ' fly the flag ' over an area comprising several hundred sq . kilometres . Until the late 1970s , black Rhodesians were prevented from holding ranks higher than Sub - Inspector in the BSAP , and only white Rhodesians could gain commissioned rank . This changed after moderate black leader Bishop Abel Muzorewa won in the 1979 elections . After Robert Mugabe took power , the force followed an official policy of " Africanisation " , in which senior white officers were retired and their positions filled by black officers . The rank structure was unique , black policemen ( known colloquially as ' Mapolisa ' ) were Constables , Sergeants , Senior Sergeants , Sergeants Major , and Sub Inspectors . The Caucasian police ( known colloquially as ' Majoni ' ) ranks began at Patrol Officer ( Single gold bar on each shoulder ) , proceeding to Senior patrol officer ( Two gold bars ) , Section Officer ( Three gold bars ) , and thereafter to Inspector , Chief Inspector and commissioned ranks etc . , as per UK police rank structures . There was also a training depot rank designation of Staff Lance Section Officer ( also denoted by Three gold bars ) . White officers were assigned separate mess facilities to the black police , and were obliged to employ indigenous civilian ' batmen ' , whom the white officers - not the government - paid . The batmen were skilled at the presentation and maintenance of several police uniform ' dress orders ' worn throughout any given day , all of which were expected to be immaculate at all times . The responsibilities of these Caucasian police officers , once trained , were broadly the same as those of UK police officers . Black officers engaged in operational police work worked alongside their white colleagues on investigations and patrols , necessarily acting as interpreters with the indigenous population , as well as patrolling alone and conducting their own crime investigations or as otherwise directed . Black " ground coverage " officers acted as undercover plain clothes intelligence gatherers in both rural and urban areas . The British South Africa Police was renamed the Zimbabwe Republic Police in July 1980 following the installation of Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe .