Personnel and equipment
Since the mid-1970s ZOMO was reputed to be one of the best trained and equipped police formation in the Eastern Bloc. A candidate for ZOMO had to have the height of at least 180 cm and the weight of at least 90 kg. After the 1968 expansion, people conscripted to the military could optionally serve their draft in ZOMO (during the martial law, the military reservists who had served in ZOMO were called-up to the squads of ORMO, a reserve formation of MO). The formation numbered more than 12,000 members in the late 1980s (twice the original designation of 6,600), quartered in barracks in the major cities across the country. 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). Since 1968 they wore military uniforms with a very similar camouflage pattern to the one used by the Polish People's Army.
Legacy
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 leader of the Military Council of National Salvation). 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).
Since the mid-1970s ZOMO was reputed to be one of the best trained and equipped police formation in the Eastern Bloc. A candidate for ZOMO had to have the height of at least 180 cm and the weight of at least 90 kg. After the 1968 expansion, people conscripted to the military could optionally serve their draft in ZOMO (during the martial law, the military reservists who had served in ZOMO were called-up to the squads of ORMO, a reserve formation of MO). The formation numbered more than 12,000 members in the late 1980s (twice the original designation of 6,600), quartered in barracks in the major cities across the country. 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). Since 1968 they wore military uniforms with a very similar camouflage pattern to the one used by the Polish People's Army.
Legacy
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 leader of the Military Council of National Salvation). 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).
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