The Polícia Civil, or Civil Police, was the general police organisation of Portugal from its inception in 1867 until its progressive dispersion in several autonomous police organisations during the first half of the 20th century. In 1910, following the implementation of the republic, it was redesignated the "Civic Police".
The Civil Police (and its successor Civic Police) was responsible for public safety, criminal investigation, border enforcement, administrative police, and security information collection.
Until 1918, the Civic Police was organised as district bodies, independent of each other, each subordinated to the respective district's civil governor. From 1918, it became a unified national body subordinated to a central body, designated the "General Directorate of Public Security".
The current
Polícia de Segurança Pública
The Polícia de Segurança Pública MHTE (PSP; ''Public Security Police'') is the national civil police force of Portugal. Part of the Portuguese security forces, the mission of the PSP is to defend Republican democracy, safeguarding internal se ...
and
Polícia Judiciária
The (PJ; en, Judiciary Police) is the national criminal investigation police agency of Portugal, focused in fighting serious crimes, including homicides, kidnapping, organized crime, terrorism, illegal drug trade, corruption, cybercrime and ...
have direct origins in the Polícia Civil. The current
Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras,
Serviço de Informações de Segurança, and
Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica all also have origins in the Polícia Civil.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Policia Civil (Portugal)
Defunct law enforcement agencies of Portugal
1867 establishments in Portugal
1935 disestablishments in Portugal