Military Police vs. Police (What's the Difference?)
Have you ever wondered why the U.S. Military and U.S. law enforcement have their own police forces? Is there really a huge difference? Let’s give you an example to get you thinking:
In order for anyone to get on a military base, they have to get through a security checkpoint at the gate, where the gate guards check your ID. Those gate guards could be both a military policeman and a DOD policeman, who happens to be a civilian. On your way through base, you could pass by a local municipal cop who just happens to be on base.
But why are there civilian and military police? What’s the point? Do they enforce the same laws? Can both arrest you? Do they get the same training? Who sees more action? We’ll be answering those questions and much more.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MILITARY POLICE vs. POLICE: OVERVIEW
MILITARY POLICE vs. POLICE: MAIN DIFFERENCES
MILITARY POLICE vs. POLICE: JURISDICTIONAL DIFFERENCES
MILITARY POLICE vs. POLICE: TRAINING AND CAREER
MILITARY POLICE vs. POLICE: CONCLUSION
MILITARY POLICE VS. POLICE: OVERVIEW
Before we can talk about the differences between both of these, let’s briefly explain what they are first, starting with the MPs. For starters, military police are members of the military, both enlisted and officer, who happen to be in every branch of the military… besides the space force. You got your Army MPs, Navy Master at Arms, Marine MPs, Air Force Security Forces, and Coast Guard Maritime Enforcement Specialists. As you can see, not all share the same moniker, but they’re all ‘military police’, and perform the same functions respective to their particular branch. As a whole, MPs enforce the laws on military installations, conduct base security, and patrol, and may be called upon in certain combat situations overseas.
Regular police, on the other hand, are all civilians; they’re not in the military, even if they happen to be cops attached to a particular military base. They enforce the law on various levels, from federal, state, county, city, town, you name it. They enforce the laws of the United States based on their jurisdiction. When we speak of regular police, for simplicity’s sake, we mean your average cop. While law enforcement does a plethora of things, if we boil things down to your standard patrol officer, police officers patrol, respond to incidents and emergencies, and protect public safety, you get the deal.
MILITARY POLICE VS. POLICE: MAIN DIFFERENCES
Okay, you know military police are police… in the military. And regular police are police not in the military. If it were that simple, we’d be all said and done here. While it might sound like they’re two completely different things, there’s a lot of crossover in their day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Law enforcement is law enforcement, after all. Don’t be surprised if you see an MP giving a service member a field sobriety test on base. If they get through the gate, that is, just the same as you’d see a patrol officer giving one to a drunk driver on any given highway. If you go on base, you’ll see MPs patrolling the streets and roads the same as you’d see your local town cop doing in your neighborhood.
Military bases are like little cities. There are schools, base housing, bars, grocery stores, you name it, with lots of people coming and going. Crime occurs everywhere, even on a military base. MPs may respond to the same types of calls a cop out in town would, like domestic violence calls, DUIs, burglary, theft, active shooters, etc. They can even work undercover!
While their duties overlap, we’re sure you’re wondering if they see the same amount of action. The simple answer is no. While every base, city, or town is different, on average, your typical law enforcement officer would respond to a higher frequency of calls than an MP would while patrolling on any given base.
Think of it this way, we told you a military base is essentially its own town or city, where MPs reign supreme. But not every military base is like Chicago, there might be crimes or incidents to respond to, but it generally is not at the level that a lot of cops have to deal with.
Also, military police only have jurisdiction over military installations. The moment they step out of the gates, they’re now in the local PD’s territory. There’s no concurrent jurisdiction, which means that they are powerless the moment they step out of that gate. Now obviously if you commit a crime and drive off base, they will chase you until the local authorities take control of the situation.
What else is different between MPs and the police?
MILITARY POLICE VA. POLICE: JURISDICTIONAL DIFFERENCES
For starters, MPs enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice, often referred to as the UCMJ, which is a federal law enacted by Congress. It is the foundation of military law in the United States. If you’re in the military, you’re subject to this.
Essentially, that means that if you’re a service member doing something you’re not supposed to do on a military base, you can get arrested for violating the UCMJ. It’s not just the UCMJ though, it’s any crime. However, if you’re a civilian on base, you’re not subject to the UCMJ like a service member is. Now don’t get too excited, you’re not going to get a free pass for speeding on a military base if you’re a civilian. Just like how a regular cop can issue you a speeding ticket on the highway, an MP can issue you one for speeding on base. But what if a speeding ticket isn’t enough for you? What if you’re a civilian on base and commit a serious crime? The local police can’t just come on base and arrest you because they don’t have jurisdiction. But it’s not like you’ll serve jail time on a military base… you’ll be detained and at some point handed over to the local PD.
Now if you are a service member, the MPs have more power over you. They would be the ones dealing with you. Depending on what you did, you might even get sent to the brig, which also has MPs, because some of them work in corrections.
Essentially, the picture we’re trying to paint here is that military police have way less power and jurisdiction over civilians. There’s a thing called the Posse (Pawsee Coma-tawtus) Comitatus act, which bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law, such as Martial Law or extreme emergencies. Even when a civilian is on a military base, military police can only exercise a certain amount of authority over them, and if an MP goes off base, they have no authority. It is important to note, however, that the PCA does not control the Coast Guard - they have express statutory authority to enforce the law on civilians. Additionally, National Guard MPs are usually able to participate in law enforcement if they’re on official orders and if it’s consistent with state law. The more you know!
But let’s say you’re a service member off base, does local law enforcement have less power over you? Not at all, you can be arrested and processed like any other civilian. Fun fact: if you’re a service member, and you get arrested for a drunk brawl at a bar, not only will you catch an assault charge, you’ll get NJP’d back at your command; so it’s double the punishment for those in the military. Stay out of trouble kids!
MILITARY POLICE VS. POLICE: TRAINING AND CAREER
While a cop and an MP can do a lot of the same stuff, their training and careers are quite different. They might learn some of the same fundamentals in enforcing the law, but it’s not like an MP can walk into a police department and get a badge, and vice versa.
MP’s are under a contractual obligation to the military, and will always be service members first, whereas cops are working a full-time job as employees. That means that a cop can quit at any time, whereas it's not so easy for an MP to pack up and go home. Cops can also get overtime, MP’s can’t!
As for how to become an MP or cop, the road you take will differ quite a bit. This even applies to their requirements. To become an MP, the minimum age is 18, and there’s no college degree required. For cops, depending on what department or agency you join, you could be looking at a minimum age of 21, and a 2 to 4-year degree to go along with it.
If you meet the initial requirements, to become a cop, you take a test and go to an academy, where every step in the training process revolves around teaching you how to be a cop. For MPs, you gotta go through boot camp first, which has nothing to do with the job you’ll be doing later. Remember how we said MPs are service members first, MPs second? There’s a variety of things you’ll be expected to know and learn outside of your job as an MP.
Career progression is also significantly different in both of these lines of work. For example, a patrol officer can work in that same capacity for twenty, or thirty years, and retire just fine, or they can elect to become a detective, take the sergeant exam, or rank up as much as they desire. In the military, you gotta rank up or get out, and the higher you rank up, the less hands-on you are. That means you won’t be patrolling for ten-plus years like a cop can. The longer you stay in, the more likely you are to be doing administrative work.
And speaking of career progression, in any MP’s career, they’ll be expected to move around a lot more than your average cop. Since there are military bases everywhere, including overseas, MPs can be anywhere in the country, or anywhere in the world. Cops, on the other hand, don’t move around as much. Obviously, federal and state cops are subject to moving around, and a few feds might deploy overseas, but generally, cops stay close to home.
MILITARY POLICE VS. POLICE: CONCLUSION
With that said, ever wondered why we have Federal, State, and Local police? What’s the point of that? Or what if you’re interested in learning more about the MP’s of the U.S. military? You just hit the jackpot, we’ve done blog posts on both! Go check them out!
If you’re wanting to learn more about the military, law enforcement, or government entities, we have a YouTube channel dedicated to providing the best info out there, plus we have a growing list of blog posts as well. Click the links to take you to them!
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