Talk:Paramilitary

Can official police units be called "paramilitary"? Article is ambiguous.

See the photo of the police SWAT team. Media sometimes uses the term for other very much official, regular police units which fulfill quasi-military riot control and border guarding purposes. So: can an official armed police unit be called "paramilitary"? If yes: change the definition in the lead. If not: make it double-clear and remove the police SWAT photo. Can't go both ways. Arminden (talk) 23:29, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

IMO, police tactical units can be considered paramilitary, but other opinions may differ. If you think the article needs changes, be WP:BOLD, do it yourself. - wolf 02:38, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, but I'm not an English native speaker, it cannot be up to me to decide. Arminden (talk) 08:15, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Quasi-military vs Paramilitary

Does the term Quasi-military have a different meaning than Paramilitary or is it the same thing?. Ive been told it is one more identical to an actual military but not part of, and this type has been used by dictators to enforce their regimes. Wunghuang 03:21, 06 Jan 2022 (UTC)

Auxiliaries

An auxiliary group is not necessarily paramilitary, as paramilitary groups are usually armed. In the United States, CAP and CGAUX are not armed but they are auxiliaries. 2601:1C0:6C03:3760:2D3C:F4C9:8C59:18AB (talk) 15:52, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Inclusion of Actual Military

The last image is of active-duty military members, two E-4s of the USAFSF. So not paramilitary, like some might consider civilian SWAT, but actual military performing the same task. Removed it for now. JSory (talk) 02:35, 27 June 2023 (UTC)

Suggest rephrasing of a line in the opening description.

A line in the opening description comes across as endorsement of vigilantism. Quote- "Paramilitary units carry out duties that a country's military or police forces are unable or unwilling to handle." This line does not accurately describe the function of paramilitaries, gives false impressions and is in generally poor taste. I recommend that this line be changed for the sake of clarity, accuracy and tact. 216.181.95.176 (talk) 17:53, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

"PARAMIL" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect PARAMIL has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 December 2 § PARAMIL until a consensus is reached. Utopes _{(talk / cont)} 22:10, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

Initial paragraph excludes terrorist organisations.

In the UK and Ireland the term paramilitary would be understood to mean the sort of terrorist groups active dyring the Northern Ireland Troubles. Granted in a global context not all terrorists are paramilitaries, and not all paramilitaries are terrorists. Given this an English language article there needs to be some recognition that paramilitary in a significsnt part of the Anglosphere was really synonym for "terrorist" whilst acknowledging in other cultures a paramilitary would be the local village police officer. This is a difficult to square because the word has different meanings depending on the cultural context. 91.84.189.190 (talk) 01:48, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

I get what you're saying; however, it's not quite that clearcut, as many (if not most) of those groups met the criteria for paramilitary while a simple village police officer would not. In any event, we'd need a reliable source speaking specifically to the misuse of the terminology in the media and popular culture. I did a cursory google search to see if there was something immediately apparent saying such, and didn't find anything. That of course doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but someone else will need to do the ground work of finding it, if we want to include such a claim.⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 19:23, 14 April 2024 (UTC)

I.C.E.

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but would I.C.E., in the manner it is being used fall into the catagory of a paramilitary situation? If so, could someone elaborate, or if not as well? Thank you. Macaroni585 (talk) 04:44, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

Whether or not law enforcement/police agencies can definitionally be considered paramilitaries is a matter of debate on which there is not uniformity. If you are using a definition that allows for law enforcement to be considered paramilitaries, then yes, ICE would qualify. However, it is frequently the case that definitions of the term exclude law enforcement agencies because by virtue of their official government status, they do not meet the "lacking legitimacy" element of the definition. Under those definitions, no, ICE would not qualify. ⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 05:41, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

Dear SWAT; Thank you so much for this. I hadn't considered the fact that ICE was a law enforcement agency. I was caught up in the future possibilities of what it might be heading for or intended which would serve as an authority militaristic organization loyal to either a party/political idea or individual, thus following similar trajectories such as the SS or Gestapo, Black Shirts etc. Again, thank you for taking the time to answer. :) ~2026-21618-68 (talk) 18:51, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Dear SWAT; Thank you so much for this. I hadn't considered the fact that ICE was a law enforcement agency. I was caught up in the future possibilities of what it might be heading for or intended which would serve as an authority militaristic organization loyal to either a party/political idea or individual, thus following similar trajectories such as the SS or Gestapo, Black Shirts etc. Again, thank you for taking the time to answer. :) Macaroni585 (talk) 18:53, 7 April 2026 (UTC)