National Police of Peru

National Police of Peru Policía Nacional del Perú
Abbreviation	PNP
Coat of arms of the Peruvian National Police
Motto	"Dios, Patria, Ley" "God, Fatherland, Law"
Agency overview
Formed	December 6, 1988 (unification)
Preceding agencies	Peruvian Civil Guard (Guardia Civil del Perú) Peruvian Investigative Police (Policía de Investigaciones del Perú) Peruvian Republican Guard (Guardia Republicana del Perú)
Employees	140,000
Annual budget	S/. 4.1 billion 2009
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency (Operations jurisdiction)	Peru
Size	1,285,220 km² (496,222 mi²)
Population	29,132,013 June 2009
Legal jurisdiction	National
Governing body	Interior Ministry
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Operational structure
Elected officer responsible	Carlos Basombrío Iglesias, Minister of Interior
Agency executive	General Vicente Romero Fernandez, Director General
Facilities
Airbases	Jorge Chávez International Airport
Airplanes	13
Helicopters	46
Notables Anniversary December 6
Website
pnp.gob.pe

The Peruvian National Police (Spanish: Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) is the national police force of Peru. Its jurisdiction covers the nation's land, sea, and air territories. Formed from the merge of the Investigative Police, the Civil Guard, and the Republican Guard in 1988, it is one of the largest police forces in Latin America. Its mission is to preserve domestic order, public order and national security, in order to enforce the law and protect the people of Peru. The PNP is controlled by the Peruvian Interior Ministry. The PNP has a number of divisions, tasked with enforcing specific aspects of the law; among the more well known are DINOES (Special Operations), DINANDRO (Anti-Narcotics Unit), DININCRI (Criminal Investigations), and DIRCOTE (Anti-Terrorism).

Under its law of creation, the National Police has the following functions:

The history of the Peruvian police goes back to the age of the Incas: however, it was since Peru became an independent republic in 1821 that the police began to be seen as a definite institution with its own mission and functions.

The first police forces, beginning between 1825 and 1839, emerged as part of the armed forces. At that time, watchmen and guards also carried out police functions within their areas of operation.

After the proclamation of Peruvian independence by General San Martín in 1821, the "Civic Militia" (Milicia Cívica) was created to keep public order. Its inspector general was Don , Marqués de Torre Tagle, who later served the Supreme Government (Supremo Gobierno) under the title Supreme Governor (Supremo Gobernador) during 1823–24.

Under San Martín the presidents of departmental governing bodies (juntas departamentales) were given the function of "police judges" (Jueces de Policía). As such their task was to oversee public morals and social progress in general. In 1822–23 police functions were organised under “commissars” (Comisarios) and section leaders (Decuriones), with the support of the pre-existing neighbourhood leaders ( Alcaldes de Barrio). A secret police force, known as the Civil Brigade (Brigada Civil), also came into being at that time. Its mission was to identify those conspiring against Independence, whose agents were infiltrating into the administrative structures of the new government, and even into the army.