The (PTJ, by its

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

in Spanish; lit. "Judicial Police Technical Corps") was

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

's largest national police agency. Created in 1958, it was responsible for criminal investigations and forensic services, as well as counter-

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

.Mark Ungar (2002),
Elusive reform: democracy and the rule of law in Latin America
', p97 It was replaced by the

Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas The Scientific, Penal and Criminalistic Investigation Service Corps (, CICPC) is Venezuela's largest national police agency, responsible for criminal investigations and Forensic science, forensic services. It replaced the Cuerpo Técnico de Pol ...

in late 2001. The police's central role in judicial investigation in Venezuela can be traced back to the security forces of Juan Vicente Gómez, via the ''Seguridad Nacional'' of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The PTJ is ascribed to the Justice Ministry, creating a "hybrid of organizational dependence on the executive but functional dependence on the judiciary hichhas led to many political frictions". In many countries, the judicial police is placed in the ''Ministério Público'' (MP, Public Ministry).Ungar (2002:104)

References

Defunct law enforcement agencies of Venezuela Government agencies established in 1958 1958 establishments in Venezuela Government agencies disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Venezuela {{Venezuela-gov-stub