The Gendarmerie Nationale ( ar, الدرك الوطني), is the national

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

force of the

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

. As part of the Algerian Armed Forces is commanded by a major general who reports directly to the Minister of National Defense. It was created in 1962 by Decree No.019-62 of 23 August 1962 shortly after its

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. In 2012 the

consists of 130,000 personnel. Although generally regarded as a versatile and competent paramilitary force, the gendarmerie has been severely tested in dealing with civil disorder since 1988. It frequently has lacked sufficient manpower at the scene of disorder and its units have been inadequately trained and equipped for riot control. The gendarmerie, however, has demonstrated the ability to root out terrorist groups operating from mountain hideouts. The current commander is General Nouredine Gouasmia, who succeeded General Abderrahmane Arar in 2020.

Duties

The gendarmerie is responsible for maintaining law and order in villages, towns, and rural areas; providing security surveillance over local inhabitants; and representing government authority in remote regions, especially where tensions and conflicts have occurred in the past.

Organization

The gendarmerie is organized in battalions, whose component companies and platoons are dispersed to individual communities and desert outposts. Its regional headquarters are in the same cities as the six military regional headquarters with subdivisions in the forty-eight

wilayat A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as " governorate". The word comes f ...

. It consists of a General Headquarters in Algiers and 6 subordinate Regional Commands (Divisions), plus 4 commands for Recruitment & Training, Intelligence, Administration and

Detection {{Unreferenced, date=March 2018 In general, detection is the action of accessing information without specific cooperation from with the sender. In the history of radio communications, the term " detector" was first used for a device that detected ...

. The 6 Regional Commands each command 3 to 4 "Brigades". Several specialized units also exist within the gendarmerie, and were established to confront the increase in crimes and criminals: * Administrative Unit * Aerial Training Formation * Border Guards Unit, created on November 17, 1977 * Cultural Heritage Protection Unit * Environmental Protection Unit * Juvenile Protection Brigade, created in 2011 * Security and Intervention Detachment *

Special Intervention Detachment The Special Intervention Detachment (french: Détachement Spécial d'Intervention, DSI, ar, المفرزة الخاصة للتدخل) is a police tactical unit of the Algerian Gendarmerie Nationale. It specializes in the fight against terrori ...

, created on August 27, 1989

Equipment

A highly mobile force, the gendarmerie possesses a modern communications system connecting its various units with one another and with the army. Equipment includes light armored weapons and transport and patrol vehicles. The force in 1993 had 44

Panhard M3 The Panhard M3 VTT ( French: ''Véhicule de Transport de Troupes'') is an amphibious armoured personnel carrier. Developed as a private venture for the export market, the M3 was built with the same mechanical and chassis components as the Panhard ...

armored personnel carriers (an APC variant of the

Panhard AML The Panhard AML (''Auto Mitrailleuse Légère'', or "Light Machine Gun Car") is an armoured car with reconnaissance capability. Designed on a lightly armoured 4×4 chassis, it weighs an estimated 5.5 tonnes, and is thus suitable for airborne dep ...

.). 50 Fahd armored personnel carriers, and 28 Mi-2 light helicopters and 10

AgustaWestland AW109 The AgustaWestland AW109, originally the Agusta A109, is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter designed and initially produced by the Italian rotorcraft manufacturer Agusta. It was the first all-Italian helicopter to ...

, In addition to AS355 Ecureuil 2 helicopters.

Training

In addition to utilizing training provided by the French since independence, the gendarmerie operates its own schools for introductory and advanced studies. The gendarmerie's main training center is at

Sidi Bel Abbes ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. W ...

, The officers school is at Isser, about 80 kilometers east of Algiers.

Commandment

The commandment of gendarmerie was successively entrusted to:

Notes