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The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) was created in 1999, in the aftermath of the NATO bombing campaign and subsequent withdrawal of the FRY and Serbian forces from Kosovo. Milosevic had previously purged most Albanians from the police in Kosovo, thus, when Serbian forces withdrew, there were no longer any police officers to maintain public order in Kosovo. The establishment of the United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) included a large international policing component, named the UNMIK Police. They were given two primary tasks by UN Security Council Resolution 1244: 1) to establish a new police force; 2) in the meantime, to maintain civil law and order.
The name for the new police force "Kosovo Police Service," was chosen by the first international police commissioner, Sven Frederiksen. Recruitment began immediately, and a former police school premise in the city of Vushtrri/Vucitrn was renovated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which began to train cadets.
To this day, the force remains subordinated to the UNMIK Police, and the police commissioner retains command authority over both the international police and the KPS. The KPS has grown steadily since 1999, and in 2004 reached its planned full size of nearly 7,000 officers. About 85% of KPS officers are ethnic Albanians, 15% are ethnic Serbs as well as other smaller ethnic minorities. 2004 also showed the KPS was powerless as rampaging mobs of Albanians attacked Serbs all over the province.