The Directorate General for National Security (DGSN; Arabic: المديرية العامة للأمن الوطني, French: Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale) 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

Officers from the Algerian Police

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.

Directors

YearsCommand
1962–1962Mohamed Medjad
1962–1963Mohamed Yousfi
1963–1964Larbi Tayebi
1964–1965Mohamed El-Ouassini Yadi
1965–1977Ahmed Draïa
1977–1987El Hadi Khediri
1987–1990Abdelmadjid Bouzbid
1990–1991Bachir Lahrache
1991–1994M’hamed Tolba
1994–1995Mohamed Ouadah
1995–2010Ali Tounsi
2010–2018Abdelghani Hamel
2018–2019Mustapha Lahbiri
2019Abdelkader Kara Bouhadba
24 August 2019 – 16 March 2021Khelifa Ounissi
16 March 2021 – 8 January 2024Farid Ben Zineddine Bencheikh
Since 8 January 2024Ali Badaoui

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.

Internal security

Public safety policeman in Annaba

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.

Weapons

Vehicles

Algerian police van

Motorcycles

Cars

Special vehicles

Aerial equipment

See also

Notes

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. . Federal Research Division.