Armed Police Corps

"Armed Police" redirects here. For other meanings, see Police.
Armed Police
Policía Armada
Common name Cuerpo de Policía Armada y de Tráfico
Abbreviation FPA

Badge of the Armed Police
Agency overview
Formed August 3, 1939
Preceding agency Guardia de Asalto
Dissolved 1979
Superseding agency Cuerpo de Policía Nacional
Employees 20,000 est. 1968
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency Spain
Governing body Ministry of Governance
General nature
Operational structure
Overviewed by Directorate-General of Security
Parent agency Francoist Army
Detail of the uniform of a Policía Armada member.

The Policía Armada (English: Armed Police), conventional long name Cuerpo de Policía Armada y de Tráfico, —popularly known as los grises (English: the grey ones) owing to the color of their uniforms— was an armed urban police force of Spain established by the Francoist State in 1939 to enforce the repression of all opposition to the regime. Its mission was "total and permanent vigilance, as well as repression when deemed necessary.[1]

In the first years of operation, the Policía Armada was badly equipped in armament and vehicles. Its first commander was General Antonio Sagardía Ramos.[2]

History

Following the overthrow of the Spanish Republic in April 1939, the new Francoist regime initially relied on the Army in order to handle public order issues.[3] By means of two sets of laws issued on 3 August 1939 and 8 March 1941 the Spanish State reorganized the police forces of Spain and established the Armed Police as a gendarmerie style national armed police that could be used to suppress disturbance of the public order and political organization in urban areas.[4] Armed and trained for this purpose, it was intended to provide a more effective force for internal security duties in the large cities of Spain than the Guardia Civil that operated mainly in rural areas.[3]

At the time of the Spanish coup of July 1936 that marked the onset of the Spanish Civil War most of the members of the preceding corps, the Assault Guards had stayed loyal to the Spanish Republican government and many of their units fought valiantly in the battlefronts against the Francoist armies and their allies.[5] This display of loyalty towards the Spanish Republic brought about the disbandment of the corps by General Franco at the end of the Civil War. The members of the Guardia de Asalto who had survived the war and the ensuing Francoist purges were made part of the Policía Armada, the corps that replaced it.[6]

The Policía Armada was placed under the Directorate-General of Security (Dirección General de Seguridad) of the Spanish Ministry of Governance (Ministerio de la Gobernación) and towards the last phase of the Francoist regime it had earned a wide reputation as a ferocious corps, especially in the largest cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia, as well as the industrial areas of Spain such as parts of Asturias and the Basque country, where its well-equipped anti-riot units were ruthless and effective in quelling demonstrations by university students and workers that were often very large.

In the months after the death of the dictator the Armed Police actively cracked down on protests and political rallies, continuing the infamous riot control operations of the dictatorship. Viewed as unpopular and too closely identified with Franco's dictatorship, the Policía Armada was slightly reorganized in the first years of the Spanish Transition, when brown uniforms replaced the former grey ones, among other cosmetic changes.[7] The effort, however, revealed itself hopeless for the brutal and harsh image of the corps could not be improved and in 1979 the Armed Police was replaced by the Cuerpo de Policía Nacional (National Police Corps).[8]

Human rights abuses

The Policía Armada, together with the Guardia Civil, became notorious during the decades of Francoism for its ruthless methods and for widespread human rights abuses against its victims. Indiscriminate beatings of detainees and torture, with or without interrogation, were commonplace in the many police stations (Comisarías) as well as in the headquarters of the Armed Police. Interrogations usually included a member of the Brigada Político-Social, the Francoist political repression wing.[9] The brutal image of the Spanish police would be so pervasive that it has continued to haunt the National Police Corps that replaced the Policía Armada following the Spanish Transition to this day.[10]

Ranks

The ranks and insignia of the Policía Armada displayed its military character and structure.[11] When the National Police Corps replaced it in 1979, it would take 7 years before the rank system was replaced.

Officers


Spain

(1939-1977)
General de División General de Brigada Coronel Teniente Coronel Comandante Capitán Teniente Alférez

Non-commissioned ranks


Spain

(1939-1977)
Subteniente Brigada Sargento Primero Sargento Cabo Primero Cabo Policía de Primera Policía
(Policeman,
Constable)

Vehicles

Land Rover Series III.

The Armed Police used different types of vehicles until its disbandment in 1978. Their registration plates had the letters FPA (Fuerzas de Policía Armada) in black over white.[12]

The Mobile Units (Banderas Móviles) were using the following vehicles:

The General Reserve Companies (Compañías de Reserva General) were using:

The Garrison Units (Banderas de Guarnición) were equipped with:

The Cavalry Units (Caballería) used Avia 2500 trucks that could carry four horses each for their anti-riot operations.

See also

References

  1. ↑ ... vigilancia total y permanente, así como de represión cuando fuera necesario... "Los grises vuelven a España".
  2. ↑ Mariano Aguilar (1999); El ejército español durante el franquismo. Madrid: Ediciones Akal. ISBN 84-460-0962-5 p. 74
  3. 1 2 Mariano Aguilar (1999); p. 58
  4. ↑ Mariano Aguilar (1999); p. 62
  5. ↑ Guardia de Asalto at Spartacus Educational
  6. ↑ Farrás, Salvador. Fuerzas de orden público y transición política (y II). La Policía Armada. Diario 16. 25/10/1977.]
  7. ↑ EL PAIS - La Policía Armada vestirá desde principio de 1979 de color marrón
  8. ↑ Ramón Tamames, (1974). Historia de España Alfaguara VII. La República. La Era de Franco. Madrid: Alianza Editorial
  9. ↑ Alberto Gómez Roda , La tortura en España bajo el franquismo. Roderic
  10. ↑ Publico - España ha vivido desde 2004 más de 6.600 casos de tortura o malos tratos policiales
  11. ↑ Mariano Aguilar (1999); pág. 63
  12. ↑ Matrículas de vehículos en España
  13. ↑ Exposición de vehículos de policía en Alcalá de Henares
  14. ↑ Police Water Cannon in Parbayon, Spain ' 96

External links

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