Nikolian Border Guard

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Nikolian Border Guard
Granična straža Nikolije
Nikolskie Straż Graniczna
Logo of the Nikolian Border Guard
Logo of the Nikolian Border Guard
Crest of the Nikolian Border Guard
Crest of the Nikolian Border Guard
AbbreviationGSN/NSG
Agency overview
FormedDecember 12, 2002
Preceding agencies
  • Nikolian Border Police
  • Nikolian Coast Guard
Jurisdictional structure
National agencyNIK
Operations jurisdictionNIK
Governing bodyMinistry of Internal Affairs
Specialist jurisdictions
  • National border patrol, security, and integrity.
  • Customs.
  • Coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.
Operational structure
HeadquartersCarigrad, Nikolia
Minister responsible
  • Marko Ivanović
Agency executive
  • General Radoslav Tomašević, Commander-in-Chief
Facilities
HelicoptersMaksimov Ma-36, Maksimov Ma-22
AirplanesKaminski KaF-345
Website
gs.mup.prv.nk

The Nikolian Border Guard (Serbian:Granična straža Nikolije; Mazurian: Nikolskie Straż Graniczna) is Nikolian border protection agency, subordinate of Ministry of Internal Affairs responsible for frontline border control at air, sea and land points of entry. Even though Border Guard officers are not police officers, a certain number of designated Border Guard officers have legal right to bear arms and detain suspects for up to 3 hours. The agency was founded in 2002 after merging Nikolian Border Police and Nikolian Coast Guard, while the Nikolian Customs Authority was reformed into the Customs and Revenue Service, providing jurisdiction of customs control and procedures at points of entry to the Nikolian Border Guard.

History

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the Nikolian Border Guard are as follows

  • search of vehicles, cargo and persons crossing the national border for illicit goods or illegal immigrants and seizure and detaining thereof
  • patrolling the Nikolian maritime and land border
  • check of immigration status, citizenship and identification of persons arriving in or departing Nikolia
  • conducting the customs procedure at ports of entry (whereas customs procedures inland are performed by the Customs and Revenue Service)

Officers

Nikolian Border Guard officers hold powers granted to them according to their jurisdiction and status as immigration officers, customs officers and border patrol officers.

Immigration officers

Entry and exit passport stamps

Immigration officers of the Nikolian Border Guard are tasked with passport and immigration status (visa) checks at points of entry. They frequently work with customs officers in spotting, searching and detaining persons that are suspected of carrying illicit goods or concealing illegal immigrants and may detain a person that is wanted for non-border offences.

Customs officers

Mobile x-ray scanner used by the Customs on display

Customs officers are tasked with conducting the customs procedure at ports of entry, search of vehicles, goods and persons of illicit goods and concealed illegal immigrants employing various modern equipment and techniques such as mobile x-ray scanners, heartbeat detectors, infrared cameras, weighing devices and others. Apart from human officers, Nikolian Border Guard employs specially trained sniffer dogs to detect illicit goods. Customs officers have jurisdiction to search any person, vehicle, package and personal belongings without written warrant, whilst maintaining adequate professional behavior and avoiding causing damage to property. They may also seize vehicles or personal belongings and detain individuals up to 3 hours until the person is further processed and handed to the Nikolian Police.

Border patrol officers

Border Guard patrol car

Border patrol officers are specially trained for physical protection and surveillance of the Nikolian border. They utilise land, sea and air assets for surveillance, intelligence gathering, early warning and border protection, such as UAV-s, infrared cameras, sensors and other. Border patrol officers are divided into three corps: Terrestrial Border Guard, Border Guard Aerial Corps and the Coast Guard.

Terrestrial Border Guard

Terrestrial Border Guard border surveillance vehicle

Terrestrial Border Guard is tasked with guarding ~1500km long land border of Nikolia. The officers have extraordinary rights to detain all suspected persons breaching the national border and are allowed to use weapons as a last resort. The units are divided per territorial organisation of Nikolia to Voivodeships, and are patrolling the border in predetermined schedule and plan. The units are equipped with all-terrain vehicles fitted with specialised surveillance systems such as infrared cameras, motion detectors and high sensitivity microphones.

Organisation

Training

Equipment