Police organisation
Botswana Police Service
Botswana’s national police service, established by Act of Parliament, with a statutory mandate the government quotes in full rather than summarises.
At a glance
- Official name
- Botswana Police Service (BPS)
- System
- Botswana
- Level of government
- National
- Kind of body
- National police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Official website
- https://www.gov.bw/ministries/botswana-police-service — confirmed against the organisation’s own pages on 17 September 2026.
- Facts last checked against sources
- 17 September 2026
What it is
The Government of Botswana states that the service is established by an Act of Parliament under Section 6 of the Police Act, Cap. 21:01, and then quotes what that Act requires of it: to be employed throughout Botswana to protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, repress internal disturbances, maintain security and public tranquility, apprehend offenders, bring offenders to justice, enforce the written laws with which it is directly charged, and generally maintain peace. Publishing the statutory wording rather than a paraphrase is unusual among the bodies in this corpus, and it is why this record can state the mandate in the terms the law uses.
What it covers
The whole territory of Botswana, which is the extent the quoted statutory mandate names.
Broad responsibilities
- Protecting life and property
- Preventing and detecting crime
- Maintaining security and public order
- Apprehending offenders and bringing them to justice
- Enforcing the written laws with which the service is directly charged
Who it answers to
The page read does not name a supervising ministry, and none is claimed here. The statutory basis it does name is Section 6 of the Police Act, Cap. 21:01.
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how Botswana is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- South African Police Service — South Africa
- Zambia Police Service — Zambia
Where this connects
Institutions: National police.
Sources
Botswana Police Service — Government of Botswana
Government of Botswana · Government publication · link verified 2026-09-17
SCOPE: the Botswana Police Service only. The Government of Botswana's own page for the service, on the official gov.bw portal, read directly. Supports the official name, the abbreviation BPS, and the service's own statement that it is established by an Act of Parliament under Section 6 of the Police Act, Cap. 21:01. Supports the mandate as the page quotes it from that Act: that the Service shall be employed throughout Botswana to protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, repress internal disturbances, maintain security and public tranquility, apprehend offenders, bring offenders to justice, enforce the written laws with which it is directly charged, and generally maintain peace. Supports the divisional and departmental structure the page lists. The Police Act itself was NOT fetched; the section number and the quoted wording rest on the government's own citation of it. The page offers no website for the service other than a social profile, which is not published as an official presence.