Military Police

Military police (MP) are police organizations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:

• a section of the military solely responsible for policing the armed forces (referred to as provosts)
• a section of the military responsible for policing in both the armed forces and in the civilian population (most gendarmeries, such as the French Gendarmerie)
• a section of the military solely responsible for policing the civilian population (such as the Romanian Gendarmerie)
• the preventative police forces of each Brazilian state (Policia Militar), responsible for policing the civilian population, which become auxiliary forces of the Brazilian Army in time of war

The status of military police is usually prominently displayed on the helmet and/or on an armband, brassard, or arm or shoulder flash. In the Second World War, the military police of the German Army still used a metal gorget as an emblem.

Naval police are sometimes called "masters-at-arms".