National Civil Police of El Salvador

The Policía Nacional is the national police of El Salvador.

History

In the early days of the Republic of El Salvador, the Civil Guard was created in 1867, which then gave way to the National Guard in 1912.

At the time of the end of the Salvadoran Civil War law enforcement in El Salvador included the National Police (Policia Nacional), the Treasury Police, and the National Guard. All were part of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. According to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, the police agencies perpetrated many human rights abuses during the civil war. Establishing civilian control of law enforcement agencies was a central tenet of the peace accords which ended the war.

As part of the peace process, the National Guard and the Treasury Police were supposed to be abolished immediately. It took some time, but eventually was accomplished.

Historical secret police organizations

• Organización Democrática Nacionalista (ORDEN) (Nationalist Democratic Organization)
• Frente Democrático Nacionalista (FDN) (Nationalist Democratic Front)

Academy

The main law enforcement academy of El Salvador is the National Academy of Public Security (Spanish language:Academia Nacional de Seguridad Publica:ASNP).