پلیس

What it means

پلیس (polis) means “police.” It is a European loanword, entering Persian through French and English in the late Qajar and early Pahlavi era as Iran reorganized its security forces along European lines. The word covers both individual officers and the institution. Older words for security functions (شحنه, shahne; داروغه, dâruqe) fell out of use as the modern police was built in the 20th century.

How to use it

• پلیس اومد (polis umad) “the police came”
• به پلیس زنگ بزن (be polis zang bezan) “call the police”
• افسر پلیس (afsar-e polis) “police officer”
• ماشین پلیس (mâshin-e polis) “police car”
• پلیس راهنمایی و رانندگی (polis-e râhnamâyi va rânandegi) “traffic police”
• پلیس ۱۱۰ (polis-e sad-o-dah) “110, the emergency police number”
• پاسگاه پلیس (pâsgâh-e polis) “police station”

Which police, which institution

In everyday Iranian speech, “polis” most often refers to the regular uniformed police (NAJA, the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran) and its traffic division (râhnamâyi va rânandegi). When Iranians say “I had to deal with the polis,” they usually mean a traffic stop, an accident report, or a station visit for paperwork. The traffic police are the most visible: posted at intersections, at city checkpoints, at highway speed traps.

The morality police are a separate institution and have their own name: گشت ارشاد (gasht-e ershâd), “guidance patrol.” They enforce dress code and public-conduct rules. They wear different uniforms, drive different vehicles (often green-and-white vans), and operate under a different command. Iranians distinguish carefully between polis and gasht-e ershâd in conversation, and learners should too. Mixing them up changes which institution you are talking about and can shift the meaning of an entire story or news report.

Other branches with their own names: سپاه پاسداران (sepâh-e pâsdârân, the IRGC) is the Revolutionary Guard, separate from the polis and from the regular military. بسیج (basij) is a paramilitary volunteer force under the IRGC. ژاندارمری (zhândârmeri) was the rural gendarmerie, merged into NAJA in 1991. اطلاعات (ettelâ’ât) is the Ministry of Intelligence, also separate. The Iranian security architecture has many doors; polis is only one of them.

Related

افسر (afsar) officer. پاسگاه (pâsgâh) police post, station. کلانتری (kalântari) precinct. گشت (gasht) patrol. سپاه (sepâh) the IRGC. گشت ارشاد (gasht-e ershâd) the morality police.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab