Forces and Agencies
Governmental responsibility for internal security will generally rest with an interior ministry, as opposed to a defence ministry. Depending on the state, a state's internal security will be maintained by either the ordinary police or law enforcement agencies or more militarised police forces (known as Gendarmerie). Other specialised internal security agencies may exist to augment these main forces, such as border guards, special police units, or aspects of the state's List of intelligence agencies. In some states, internal security may be the primary responsibility of a secret police force.
The level of authorised force used by agencies and forces responsible for maintaining internal security might range from unarmed police to fully armed paramilitary organisations, or employ some level of less-lethal weaponry in between. For violent situations, internal security forces may contain some element of military type equipment such as non-military armored vehicles.
Read more about this topic: Internal Security
Famous quotes containing the words forces and/or agencies:
“The next thing his Lordship does, after clearing of the coast, is the dividing of his forces, as he calls them, into two squadrons, one of places of Scriptures, the other of reasons....
All that I have to say touching this, is that I observe a great part of those his forces do look and march another way, and some of them fight amongst themselves.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
“While it is generally agreed that the visible expressions and agencies are necessary instruments, civilization seems to depend far more fundamentally upon the moral and intellectual qualities of human beings—upon the spirit that animates mankind.”
—Mary Ritter Beard (1876–1958)