Municipal Police as Private Law Enforcement Force: A Qualitative Analysis of Basic Problems of Municipal Police in Isparta Scale

The main tasks of local governments are to meet the various urban needs of the population living in the cities, to increase and sustain the quality of life, protecting the basic rights and freedoms to ensure the prosperity and order of the society. In this respect, the services provided by the municipalities, which are the local administration units that responsible for providng the most services to the public, are also of great importance. As the legal entities liable to meet the needs of the local people the municipalities are responsible for ensuring the health,well-being and prosperity of the people , the protection and the maintenance of the order of the settlement in the areas other than the general security services and a significant portion of these duties are carried out by municipal police. The municipal police, which is working as a special law enforcement power, also fulfills the other duties that mentioned to be fulfilled by municipality , don’t concern other existing units of the municipality. Much of the task and responsibility has been assigned to the municipal police in the framework of the 26490 Municipality Police Regulation which prepared on the basis of Article 51 of the Municipal Law No. 5393 and entered into force in 2007. When the Regulation is examined, it is seen that the 51 duties which are related to the municipality's order, peace, development, health, aid and traffic and that requiring expertise in these matters are given to the municipality police. The municipal police, which have a wide range of duties and responsibilities, experience various problems like every occupational group.These problems may be the ones experienced when tasks are performed as well as related to personal rights,liegislative, financial, social,administrative, organizational,political,personel or health-related issues. The problems of the municipal police,specific to Isparta, from the units which in the forefront for service delivery are the main subject of this study.In the study, with the definition and historical development of the municipal police , their place in the legislation and practice , the general qualities of municipality police officers working in Isparta Municipality and the professional problems they have experienced are examined, in the framework of the study, interviews were conducted with the municipal police officers and the recommendations were listed