History

Prior to and immediately after the Rwandan Patriotic Front and Army (RPF/A) liberated Rwanda on 4th July 1994, Rwanda had several Para-military and Civil defense forces entrusted to keep law and order.

These included the Gendarmerie Nationale under the Defense ministry, the Communal Police under the Ministry of Interior and the Judicial Police Inspectors under the Ministry of Justice.

In the year 2000, the Government of Rwanda thought it wise to have an organized, well coordinated and professional police force that would effectively deal with security challenges that were relatively high at the time.

This led to the merger of the three institutions in June 2000, which had the Policing and law and order functions at the time, forming the Rwanda National Police (RNP). Law No 09/2000 of June 16, 2000 determines the powers, responsibilities, organization and functioning of the institution as amended later by the law No 46/2010 of 14th December, 2010.

The RNP as a proactive force is built on the core values of professionalism, patriotism, integrity and high level of discipline. When RNP came into being in 2000, its first priority was to consolidate safety and security, which had been lacking under the previous governments culminating into the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. To do this, so much investment was made in promoting the values of selfless service, professionalism and efficiency in overcoming crime and enabling a safe environment;

Currently, RNP has gone far beyond the traditional methods of policing to make the people understand their role in crime prevention. In 15 years, the force is founded on strong partnerships with the public in fighting crime. These partnerships are evident today through the promotion of core values of security and safety, spearheaded through community policing that enables police officers and civilians to share critical information that is used to overcome crime.

For the very first time in the history of Rwanda National Police, a ‘Police Book’ was launched on July 31 2014, documenting policing triumphs in the post-genocide period and tribulations dating as far back as the colonial and post-colonial era;

RNP has been actively engaged in peace Support Operations since 2005. Today, the force deploys in six UN missions and New York with over 925 officers deployed as Individual Police Officers (IPOs), Formed Police Units (FPUs) and Police Professionals.

The force has three (3) Police Training Schools, a Police college offering bachelors and post graduate degrees and a center of excellence in Peace Support Operations at Gishari Police Training School where pre-deployment courses and conducted for the police officers of the region.

The Police hospital is fully fledged and operational with healthy center and a referral facilities. RNP has a modern forensic laboratory and the famous Isange One Stop Center - a center of excellence in the fight against Gender Based Violence that has attracted many visitors from all corners of the world to learn from and borrow best practices.

These significant milestones have been achieved thanks to the partnerships with the local community, public and private entities, regional and international cooperation to deal with the emerging security challenges that come with globalization and modern technology in particular.