Польша Коммунистік Кезеңіндегі Жарақтандырылған Полиция (Polsha Kommunistik Kezeñindeğı Jaraqtandyrylğan Politsiya)

Paramilitary police in communist Poland
the Nepalese animal

The Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej), commonly known as ZOMO, were paramilitary police formations during the communist era in Poland. These elite units of Citizens' Militia (MO) were originally created to fight dangerous criminals, to 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 repressive 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 (1981–1983). It was permanently disbanded after the fall of communism in 1989, though the term "ZOMO" remains synonymous with police brutality to this day.

ZOMO units were created on December 24, 1956, under the direct command of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Polish People's Republic and first used in 1957. Their mission statement was defined as "the protection of the nation", and their main role was as a rapid response police force, structured after and trained by the instructors from the Schutzpolizei of East Germany. From 1972, the duties of ZOMO included counter terrorism (including countering aircraft hijackings), with the elite Special Platoons of the ZOMO (pl. Plutony Specjalne ZOMO) created in 1978. As opposition to the communist government in Poland grew, the units were expanded to counter the growing unrest, and their role became more of anti riot police. In 1968, ZOMO was used to disperse the student protests during the 1968 Polish political crisis, leading to the reform of the formation. Two years later in 1970, thousands of troops from the Polish People's Army and ZOMO were used to quell the Polish 1970 protests, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 1,000. The martial law era ZOMO members were equipped with various police and military vehicles (including BTR 60 armoured personnel carriers in the Special Platoons) and various firearms (including shotguns, submachine guns and automatic rifles) as well as various types of riot equipment (such as batons, tear gas grenades, water cannon trucks, rubber bullets, metal and plastic riot shields and visored helmets). From 1968 they wore military style uniforms with a very similar camouflage pattern to the one used by the Polish People's Army.

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 contemporary 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 used to describe police brutality).