Algerian police explained

Agencyname:Directorate General for National Security
Nativename:المديرية العامة للأمن الوطني
Patch:Algeria police patch 01.jpg
Patchcaption:Badge of the National Police.
Formedyear:22 July 1962
Country:Algeria
National:Yes
Governingbody:Cabinet of Algeria
Police:Yes
Local:Yes
Oversightbody:Direction générale de la police nationale
Headquarters:Algiers, Algeria
Electeetype:Minister
Minister1pfo:Ministry of the Interior
Chief1name:Farid Zineddine Bencheikh[1]
Chief1position:Director-General
Unittype:Directorate
Aircraft1type:Helicopter

The Directorate General for National Security (DGSN; Arabic: المديرية العامة للأمن الوطني,) is the national civil police force of Algeria. It polices Algeria's larger cities and urban areas. The Sûreté is part of the Ministry of Interior and is charged with maintaining law and order, protecting life and property, investigating crimes, and apprehending offenders. It also performs other routine police functions, including traffic control.

Organization

The DGNS is headed by a Director General and in 2007 consisted of a force of 130,000, including specialist operational and investigative branches and supporting services.[2]

The judicial police branch is responsible for criminal investigations, working in close coordination with the Office of the Public Prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice. Police are assigned to the capitals of the wilayat are under the nominal control of the individual governors. A special riot police force is equipped with modern riot-control gear. Although the police were able to cope with urban disturbances and violence during the early and mid-1980s, the military had to be called in to help quell the severe riots in late 1988.[3]

Internal security

Elements of the DGNS nationale also play a role in countering threats to the government arising from political subversion. The Sûreté assigns police contingents to work with customs inspectors at legal points of entry to control illegal activities. Their main concerns are apprehending undesirable immigrants and contraband traffickers. The Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS) is the Algerian state intelligence service. It is separate from Directorate General for National Security and was an active player in the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s.[4] [5]

Weapons

Vehicles

Motorcycles

Cars

Special vehicles

Aerial equipment

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Directeur Général de la Sûreté Nationale . www.dgsn.dz . fr.
  2. Web site: About this Collection | Country Studies | Digital Collections | Library of Congress. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. 18 April 2023.
  3. [Library of Congress Country Study]
  4. Evans and Phillips (2008), passim
  5. Jeanne Kervyn and François Gèze. L’organisation des forces de répression. Comité Justice pour l'Algérie, Dossier n° 16. September 2004.