The General Police Corps ( es, Cuerpo General de Policía, CGP) was a

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

force of Spain established by the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

in 1941 to conduct

criminal investigation Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservat ...

and enforce political repression. They should not be confused with the

Armed Police Corps The ( en, Armed Police), conventional long names ( en, Armed and Traffic Police Corps) and ( en, Armed Police Forces), —popularly known as ( en, the grey ones) owing to the color of their uniforms— was an armed urban police force of S ...

, which was responsible for the maintenance of

public order In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...

History

Following the overthrow of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

in April 1939, the Francoist Spain initially relied on the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in order to handle public order issues. Mariano Aguilar (1999)
''El ejército español durante el franquismo''
p. 58 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 (namely the and the

Guardia de Asalto The Cuerpo de Seguridad y Asalto ( en, Security and Assault Corps) was the heavy reserve force of the blue-uniformed urban police force of Spain during the Spanish Second Republic. The Assault Guards were special police and paramilitary units cr ...

) and officially the General Police Corps was created. Mariano Aguilar (1999)
''El ejército español durante el franquismo''
p. 62 The selection of the cadres was made between the former members of the police who had passed the purge, and also through a new selection of candidates that was made at the end of the war. Mariano Aguilar (1999); ''El ejército español durante el franquismo'', p. 63 The profile of accepted candidates ranged from

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

veterans of the Nationalist faction, militants of the

Movimiento Nacional ''Movimiento Nacional'' ( en, National Movement) was a governing institution of Spain established by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During Francoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of participa ...

or former Guardia de Asalto members. A section dedicated to the work of

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

, the Political-Social Brigade was also created. The Minister of Governance

Blas Pérez González Blas Pérez González (13 August 1898 – 7 February 1978) was a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Governance of Spain between 1942 and 1957, during the Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the F ...

was the main organizer of the Political-Social Brigade in its origins. The commissioner became the head of the Political-Social Brigade, being known among the opponents for his brutal methods of interrogation and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

. The policeman Antonio González Pacheco (alias "

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

") become the right hand of Conesa. In 1968, the workforce of the CGP consisted of 8,200 members, including inspectors, police officers and officials. Ramón Tamames (1974); '' Historia de España Alfaguara VII. La República. La Era de Franco.'' p. 371 In 1974, a "female group" was created, composed of 70 personnel from the administrative and auxiliary bodies, who would be responsible for various functions, such as information, surveillance of persons or searches of women. During its existence the CGP conducted the investigation of some crimes that had great social echo, as was the case of the murders committed by José María Jarabo, or the crimes of the ''poisoner of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

'', Pilar Prades. The CGP also highlighted the case of the anarchist Salvador Puig Antich, who was blamed for the murder of a police inspector and who ended up being

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

by the garrote. During the Spanish transition to democracy, on 4 December 1978, the CGP was reorganized and succeeded by the new Superior Police Corps (CSP) through Law 1978/55. C. Pomares Ramón, J. Vadillo García (2012);
La policía local como policía judicial
', p. 169 In 1986 the CSP was later on integrated into the current

National Police Corps The National Police Corps ( es, Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, link=no, CNP; ; also known simply as National Police, ) is the national civilian police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst rural policing ...

(CNP).

Organic structure and functions

Organically the CGP depended on the Ministry of Governance, although directly it did it through the Directorate-General of Security. Officially, the CGP was in charge of the investigation of crimes, common offenses and conducting political repression. Within its internal organization it had two separate sections: * Political-Social Brigade, in charge of repression against opposition movements. *

Criminal Investigation Brigade In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

, in charge of investigation of crimes and common offenses. Regarding questions of public order, police interventions and charges, these were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the

Rank insignia

Although the CGP was a civilian institution, its members could wear uniforms with the rank of their category for official events.

Emblems

File:Primer escudo CGP.png, First Emblem (1942). File:Segundo escudo CGP.png, Second Emblem (1954). File:Tercer escudo CGP.png, Third Emblem (1962). File:Cuarto escudo CGP.png, Fourth Emblem (1972).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Police Corps Defunct law enforcement agencies of Spain 1941 establishments in Spain 1978 disestablishments in Spain Political repression in Spain Specialist law enforcement agencies of Spain

History

Organic structure and functions

Rank insignia

Emblems

See also

References