Proposal:Key:police:branch
| Key:police:branch | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposals with undefined or invalid status (inactive) |
| Proposed by: | Joost schouppe |
| Tagging: | police:branch=*
|
| Applies to: |  /  /  / 
|
| Definition: | Police branch operating this feature. Usually based on the government level that operates the police, but may include other essential differentiation in the type of organization that manages this police object. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2026-07-24 |
| RFC start: | 2026-07-24 |
Proposal
Police forces around the world are structured in many different ways. This tag proposes to use common values as much as possible. Where local realities differ too much to be integrated in this model, a further subtag should be used. Usually, the related Proposal:Key:police:specialization should be able to do that. The tag tries to reflect the highest level at which the police forces are organized, which usually means which government level organizes them.
Definition
Police branch operating this feature. Usually based on the government level that operates the police, but may include other essential differentiation in the type of organization that manages this police object.
Rationale
Currently, there are no global standards for tagging this, while the French police:FR=* and Belgian use of ad hoc police:type=* clearly shows the need for this kind of classification.
These police institutions serve very different needs for the public, and the differentiation is important for other data users too.
This proposal does not attempt to work for the whole world, but rather find common ground for the many countries that have roughly similar structures in their police forces. In the future, some values may be added if they are also in common use in several countries.
The proposal does not aim to catch all the possible details about police forces. It gives a rough classification, but further details can be added, for example with the operator=* tag. However it takes complexity away from the mapper for a base classification - they no longer all need to use the exact same spelling or know about how to find/add wikidata. It also allows data users to get a rough idea of the police station type without needing local knowledge and advanced data cleaning.
Note that police=* already exists to map police related infrastructure that are not public facing police stations. The police:branch tag would combine both with police=* and amenity=police objects.
Tagging
| Key | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
police:branch=*
|
gendarmerie
|
A military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. Common in Europe, former Soviet countries and some countries colonized by France. This is not the same as a military police, which are parts of the military that police within their own rank, and hence could be mapped as a subtype of military organizations, not police organizations. |
police:branch=*
|
national_police
|
Police forces operated by national government |
police:branch=*
|
regional_police
|
Police operated by an admin level between the nation and the municipality, for example state police in the US or the Catalan Mossos d’ Esquadra. |
police:branch=*
|
local_police
|
Police that is operated at the municipal, city or local level. This can include police zones that are operated by a group of municipalities. |
Features/Pages affected
police=*
police:FR=*
amenity=police
External discussions
- The proposal includes feedback from previous discussion at https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/tagging-police-force-details/
- [RFC] in the community forum: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/rfc-police-branch-police-specialization/145742
- Vote announcement: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/voting-police-branch-police-speciality/146397
Comments
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