History of the Colombian National Police
Encyclopedia
This is the history of the Colombian National Police, for further reading see history of Colombia
.
and Conservatives
escalated to numerous civil wars trying to establish a political system between federalism
or centralism and other major differences.
The Colombian National Police was established by Law 90 of 1888 to be under government orders and as a dependency of the then Ministry of Government with the intention to function as a Gendarmerie
force for Bogotá
.
The new institution was planned to be a force of 300 Gendarmeries divided into three companies
; commanded by a Captain, two lieutenants and a second lieutenant, all commanded by two high ranking officers.
On October 23, 1890 acting president Carlos Holguín sanctioned into Law the authorization to hire any qualified trainers from the either the United States or Europe to organize and train the newly established National Police. The Colombian officials selected a French Commissioner named Jean Marie Marcelin Gilibert
. The institution was formally established by the 1000 of November 5, 1891.
The National Police initial mission was to preserve public tranquility, protecting people and public and private properties. By constitutional law the institution had to enforce and guarantee the rights of the people, the constitution and its laws and obey their authority. Its function also included the authority to take action to prevent crimes, persecute and arrest infractors. The National Police was intended to not recognize privileges or distinctions among the general population, with the only exception of international treaties established in the Constitution that gave immunity to members of diplomatic missions.
After a civil war broke out in 1895 during the presidency of Rafael Núñez
, the president went absent and Miguel Antonio Caro
took over office temporarily and declared a general state of emergency
in which the National Police was transferred to the Ministry of War on January 21, 1896 and its members received same privileges as the military personnel.
When aged president Manuel Antonio Sanclemente
was replaced by Vice-president José Manuel Marroquín
who assumed the presidency, the National Police was restructured and organized in a military manner. It was transferred back to the Ministry of Government and to guarantee the security of Bogotá was divided into seven districts to cover the entire city. A mutual fund called Caja de Gratificaciones was set up to pay benefits to service members and financed by the penalties imposed to the civilian population. By 1899 the National Police had a 944 agents strong force divided into eight divisions.
(1899–1902), the National Police was once again assigned to the Ministry of War until September 6, 1901. Under the Decree 1380 of September 16, 1902 the National Police created the Presidential Palace Honor Guard Corps with the name Guardia Civil de la Ciudad de Bogotá (Civil Guard of the City of Bogotá).
During the presidency of Rafael Reyes
, the government authorized by decree 743 of 1904 the Police was once again transferred to the Ministry of War, with the president micro-managing the institution. By authorization of Law 43 the Judicial Comisary of Police was established under the dependency of the Gereral Command of the National Police to investigate crimes within its jurisdiction.
From 1906 to 1909 the government created a cloned institution with similar functions to the National Police named National Gendarmerie Corps (Cuerpo de Gendarmeria Nacional) intended to function descentralized from the National Police command and more militarized regime, managed by the Ministry of War. When General Jorge Holguín suppressed the National Gendarmerie Corps, the province governors were given the authority to organize police service at their own will.
Law 14 signed on November 4, 1915 defined the National Police functions to "preserve public tranquility in Bogotá and any other place were needed to execute its functions, protect citizens and aid the constitutional law by enforcing it and the judicial branch of government. The institution was divided into three groups; the first in charge of security and vigilante functions, a second group acting as civil gendarmerie guard with the main function of protecting the postal service and controlling the prison system, the third group functioning as the judicial police. In 1916 the institution was trained by the Spanish Guardia Civil in their doctrine, mainly related to criminology
. Two years later the organization was restructured by the Decree 1628 of October 9, 1918, assigning the direction, sub-direction and Inspector General duties to the Colombian Army
. Soon thereafter, as authorized by Law 74 of November 19, 1919, Colombia's president hired a French instructor and chief of detectives, expert in the anthropometric
system to train the National Police.
In 1924 the Criminal Investigation School was founded to update personnel working in this area. In 1929 the Colombian government in agreement with the Argentine
government, hired Enrique Medina Artola to train the Colombian Police in dactylography to replace the anthropometric system. In 1934 in agreement with the Spanish government the National Police was trained in scientific identification until 1948.
On July 7, 1937 by the Decree 1277, the government authorized the creation of the General Santader Academy, which began operating in 1940 as an institute for every policemen recruit in the force. In 1939 the Colombian government receives the first cooperation agreement with the United States, through a Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) committee headed by agent Edgar K. Thompson.
" broke out after the assassination of the popular presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
the stability of the country was abruptly iterrupted generating a period of civil unrest known as La Violencia
which lasted for almost a decade. The government then decides to restructure once again the institution with the cooperation and advice from the British. The English mission was integrated by Colonel Douglas Gordon, Colonel Eric M. Roger, Lieutenant Colonel Bertrand W.H. Dyer, Major Frederick H. Abbot and Major William Parham, primarily assisted by Colombian lawyers Rafael Escallón, Timoleón Moncada, Carlos Losano Losano, Jorge and Enrique Gutiérrez Anzola.
By Decree 0446 of February 14, 1950 the National Police creates the Gonzálo Jiménez de Quesada Non-Commissioned School to train mid-level enlisted under the management of the General Santander National Police Academy
.
seizes power in a coup d'etat
assuming functions as President of Colombia. In an attempt to better organize the military forces, President Rojas declares the Decree 1814 of this same day to group the General Command of the Military Forces under the name of General Command of the Armed Forces. Defined the conformation of the Armed Forces by the General Command of the Armed Forces, the Army
, Navy, Air Force
and Police Force, this last one assigned to the Ministry of War once again as a fourth military power, functioning with its own independent budget and organization from the other branches as established by law. The Ministry of War its later renamed with the name of Ministry of Defense. Many Police Academies were planned and constructed in other cities of Colombia; in 1953 Academies Antonio Nariño in Barranquilla
and Alejandro Gutiérrez in Manizales
are opened, followed by a social plan for retirement and social security called Caja de Sueldos de la Policia Nacional by Decree 417 of 1954. The Eduardo Cuevas Academy later opened in 1955 in the city of Villavicencio
and in 1958 the Carlos Holguín Academy in Medellín
opens. During this year a cooperation mission arrives from Chile
to reorganize and train the Carabinier
Corps in urban and rural surveillance.
As established in Law 193 of December 30, 1959, the Colombian nation assumes full financial responsibility of the National Police.
During the 1960s
and 1970s
the National Police started facing guerrilla threats which were emerging during these years as a backlash from the political bipartisan struggle of La Violencia
years and also the growing problem of contraband and illegal drugs trafficking that also surfaced and the involvement of the United States with the implementation of the Plan LASO as a proxy war
plan against the expansion of Communism
during the Cold War
, the later declaration of the War on Drugs
and the Plan Colombia
, would eventually help develop the present and ongoing Colombian Armed Conflict
involving mainly guerrillas; the FARC-EP including its Patriotic Union Party
, ELN
, Popular Liberation Army\EPL, M-19
, among many others; The Drug Cartel
s such as the Medellín Cartel
, Cali Cartel
, and others; Paramilitarism
and the AUC
. The Colombian National Police has been fighting against these many threats tainted or involved in some cases of corruption and accusations of human rights violations amid the efforts of the majority of the institution to change its image.
.
To prevent this situation the institution began a process of change focusing on reinvigorating the values and principles of the institution mostly led by General Rosso Jose Serrano
. Colombia's problems were demanding a strong government with strong institutions to face the numerous violations to the constitution and the population in general. The first steps towards this path was the deputarion process of bad policemen inside the force and targeting the major criminal organizations. The institution also focused on providing better benefits for the Policemen and their families and a particular effort to reinstate the trust of the community on the Police force emphasizing on preventing crime, educating the population and the policemen on cordial relationship, neighbor watch, cooperation with solidarity and community development.
Since 1995 the National Police began to change norms, structures and standard operating procedures, essentially on policemen judgment towards accomplishing missions and emphasizing on those whom are willing to work with self-less service, integrity, leadership and vision of improving the population in general.
The National Police continues to have some corruption and human rights problems but the improvement has been considerably positive including the formation and education of personnel in other countries law enforcement institutions and educational institutions through cooperation agreements. http://snportal.policia.gov.co/inicio/portal/portal.nsf/17e5766707ce08f585256ebe004a8e6d/2539f3b976ca07700525711f004e3bf2?OpenDocument The institution is also highly involved in the Plan Colombia
.
History of Colombia
This article deals with the history of Colombia, a country in South America.-Pre-Colombian period:Approximately 10,000 years BC hunter-gatherer societies existed near present-day Bogotá , and they traded with one another and with cultures living in the Magdalena River valley...
.
Creation 19th century
During the second half of the 19th century Colombia went through many political changes and struggles to define itself as a nation. Tensions between the two main political parties; LiberalsColombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
and Conservatives
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
escalated to numerous civil wars trying to establish a political system between federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
or centralism and other major differences.
The Colombian National Police was established by Law 90 of 1888 to be under government orders and as a dependency of the then Ministry of Government with the intention to function as a Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
force for Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
.
The new institution was planned to be a force of 300 Gendarmeries divided into three companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
; commanded by a Captain, two lieutenants and a second lieutenant, all commanded by two high ranking officers.
On October 23, 1890 acting president Carlos Holguín sanctioned into Law the authorization to hire any qualified trainers from the either the United States or Europe to organize and train the newly established National Police. The Colombian officials selected a French Commissioner named Jean Marie Marcelin Gilibert
Jean Marie Marcelin Gilibert
Jean Marie Marcelin Gilibert was a French Commissioner in the French Gendarmerie. He was sent to Colombia as part of an exchange program between the two countries to help found the National Police of Colombia on November 5, 1891....
. The institution was formally established by the 1000 of November 5, 1891.
The National Police initial mission was to preserve public tranquility, protecting people and public and private properties. By constitutional law the institution had to enforce and guarantee the rights of the people, the constitution and its laws and obey their authority. Its function also included the authority to take action to prevent crimes, persecute and arrest infractors. The National Police was intended to not recognize privileges or distinctions among the general population, with the only exception of international treaties established in the Constitution that gave immunity to members of diplomatic missions.
After a civil war broke out in 1895 during the presidency of Rafael Núñez
Rafael Núñez (politician)
Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected President of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884. Rafael Núñez was born in Cartagena de Indias, on September 28, 1825. He died in Cartagena on September 18, 1894.-Early life:Little is known about the...
, the president went absent and Miguel Antonio Caro
Miguel Antonio Caro
Miguel Antonio Caro Tobar was a Colombian scholar, poet, journalist, philosopher, orator, philologist, lawyer and politician.- Biographic data :Miguel Antonio Caro was born in Bogotá on November 10, 1845, and he died in the same city on August 5, 1909....
took over office temporarily and declared a general state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in which the National Police was transferred to the Ministry of War on January 21, 1896 and its members received same privileges as the military personnel.
When aged president Manuel Antonio Sanclemente
Manuel Antonio Sanclemente
Manuel Antonio Sanclemente Sanclemente was President of Colombia between 1898 and 1900.- Early life :Sanclemente was born in Buga, Valle del Cauca Department on September 19, 1814. He died in Villeta, Cundinamarca on March 19, 1902, during his house arrest. He studied Law at the University of...
was replaced by Vice-president José Manuel Marroquín
José Manuel Marroquín
Jose Manuel Marroquin Ricaurte was a Colombian political figure and President of Colombia.- Biographic data :José Manuel Marroquín was born in Bogotá, on August 6, 1827. He died in the same city on September 19, 1908.- Early life :...
who assumed the presidency, the National Police was restructured and organized in a military manner. It was transferred back to the Ministry of Government and to guarantee the security of Bogotá was divided into seven districts to cover the entire city. A mutual fund called Caja de Gratificaciones was set up to pay benefits to service members and financed by the penalties imposed to the civilian population. By 1899 the National Police had a 944 agents strong force divided into eight divisions.
Twentieth century
When the most intense of the civil wars broke out, known as the Thousand Days WarThousand Days War
The Thousand Days' War , was a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections...
(1899–1902), the National Police was once again assigned to the Ministry of War until September 6, 1901. Under the Decree 1380 of September 16, 1902 the National Police created the Presidential Palace Honor Guard Corps with the name Guardia Civil de la Ciudad de Bogotá (Civil Guard of the City of Bogotá).
During the presidency of Rafael Reyes
Rafael Reyes
Rafael Reyes Prieto was Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
, the government authorized by decree 743 of 1904 the Police was once again transferred to the Ministry of War, with the president micro-managing the institution. By authorization of Law 43 the Judicial Comisary of Police was established under the dependency of the Gereral Command of the National Police to investigate crimes within its jurisdiction.
From 1906 to 1909 the government created a cloned institution with similar functions to the National Police named National Gendarmerie Corps (Cuerpo de Gendarmeria Nacional) intended to function descentralized from the National Police command and more militarized regime, managed by the Ministry of War. When General Jorge Holguín suppressed the National Gendarmerie Corps, the province governors were given the authority to organize police service at their own will.
Law 14 signed on November 4, 1915 defined the National Police functions to "preserve public tranquility in Bogotá and any other place were needed to execute its functions, protect citizens and aid the constitutional law by enforcing it and the judicial branch of government. The institution was divided into three groups; the first in charge of security and vigilante functions, a second group acting as civil gendarmerie guard with the main function of protecting the postal service and controlling the prison system, the third group functioning as the judicial police. In 1916 the institution was trained by the Spanish Guardia Civil in their doctrine, mainly related to criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
. Two years later the organization was restructured by the Decree 1628 of October 9, 1918, assigning the direction, sub-direction and Inspector General duties to the Colombian Army
Colombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
. Soon thereafter, as authorized by Law 74 of November 19, 1919, Colombia's president hired a French instructor and chief of detectives, expert in the anthropometric
Anthropometry
Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual...
system to train the National Police.
In 1924 the Criminal Investigation School was founded to update personnel working in this area. In 1929 the Colombian government in agreement with the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
government, hired Enrique Medina Artola to train the Colombian Police in dactylography to replace the anthropometric system. In 1934 in agreement with the Spanish government the National Police was trained in scientific identification until 1948.
On July 7, 1937 by the Decree 1277, the government authorized the creation of the General Santader Academy, which began operating in 1940 as an institute for every policemen recruit in the force. In 1939 the Colombian government receives the first cooperation agreement with the United States, through a Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) committee headed by agent Edgar K. Thompson.
El Bogotazo and La Violencia
In 1948 when the civil unrest known as "El BogotazoBogotazo
El Bogotazo refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948 during the government of President Mariano Ospina Pérez...
" broke out after the assassination of the popular presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister and Labor Minister , mayor of Bogotá and one of the most charismatic leaders of the Liberal Party.He was assassinated during his second presidential campaign in 1948, setting off...
the stability of the country was abruptly iterrupted generating a period of civil unrest known as La Violencia
La Violencia
La Violencia is a period of civil conflict in the Colombian countryside between supporters of the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 ....
which lasted for almost a decade. The government then decides to restructure once again the institution with the cooperation and advice from the British. The English mission was integrated by Colonel Douglas Gordon, Colonel Eric M. Roger, Lieutenant Colonel Bertrand W.H. Dyer, Major Frederick H. Abbot and Major William Parham, primarily assisted by Colombian lawyers Rafael Escallón, Timoleón Moncada, Carlos Losano Losano, Jorge and Enrique Gutiérrez Anzola.
By Decree 0446 of February 14, 1950 the National Police creates the Gonzálo Jiménez de Quesada Non-Commissioned School to train mid-level enlisted under the management of the General Santander National Police Academy
General Santander National Police Academy
General Santander National Police Academy is the main educational center for the Colombian National Police...
.
Military Dictator, Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
On June 13, 1953 Lieutenant General Gustavo Rojas PinillaGustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a Colombian politician, military officer, General of the Army and President of Colombia between 1953 and 1957.- Biographic data :...
seizes power in a coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
assuming functions as President of Colombia. In an attempt to better organize the military forces, President Rojas declares the Decree 1814 of this same day to group the General Command of the Military Forces under the name of General Command of the Armed Forces. Defined the conformation of the Armed Forces by the General Command of the Armed Forces, the Army
Colombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
, Navy, Air Force
Colombian Air Force
The Colombian Air Force or FAC is the Air Force of the Republic of Colombia.The Colombian Air Force is one of the three institutions of the Armed Forces of Colombia, charge according to the 1991 Constitution of the work to exercise and maintain control of Colombia's airspace to defend the...
and Police Force, this last one assigned to the Ministry of War once again as a fourth military power, functioning with its own independent budget and organization from the other branches as established by law. The Ministry of War its later renamed with the name of Ministry of Defense. Many Police Academies were planned and constructed in other cities of Colombia; in 1953 Academies Antonio Nariño in Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
and Alejandro Gutiérrez in Manizales
Manizales
Manizales is a city and municipality in central Colombia, capital of Department of Caldas and part of the region of Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano....
are opened, followed by a social plan for retirement and social security called Caja de Sueldos de la Policia Nacional by Decree 417 of 1954. The Eduardo Cuevas Academy later opened in 1955 in the city of Villavicencio
Villavicencio
Villavicencio is a city and municipality in Colombia, capital of the Department of Meta, with 361,058 inhabitants. The city is located at 4°08S, 73°40W, 75 km southeast of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá by the Guatiquía river...
and in 1958 the Carlos Holguín Academy in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
opens. During this year a cooperation mission arrives from Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
to reorganize and train the Carabinier
Carabinier
A Carabinier was originally a cavalry soldier armed with a carbine...
Corps in urban and rural surveillance.
As established in Law 193 of December 30, 1959, the Colombian nation assumes full financial responsibility of the National Police.
Colombian Armed Conflict
In 1964 and as mandated by the Decree 349 of February 19 of this same year the Police Superior Academy is founded to endoctrine officers with the rank of Major to the grade of Lieutenant Colonels. By 1977 the institution created the first course for female officers.During the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
the National Police started facing guerrilla threats which were emerging during these years as a backlash from the political bipartisan struggle of La Violencia
La Violencia
La Violencia is a period of civil conflict in the Colombian countryside between supporters of the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 ....
years and also the growing problem of contraband and illegal drugs trafficking that also surfaced and the involvement of the United States with the implementation of the Plan LASO as a proxy war
Proxy war
A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed...
plan against the expansion of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the later declaration of the War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
and the Plan Colombia
Plan Colombia
The term Plan Colombia is most often used to refer to U.S. legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling and combating a left-wing insurgency by supporting different activities in Colombia....
, would eventually help develop the present and ongoing Colombian Armed Conflict
Colombian Armed Conflict
The Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in Colombia that has existed since approximately 1964 or 1966, between the Colombian government and peasant guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed...
involving mainly guerrillas; the FARC-EP including its Patriotic Union Party
Patriotic Union (Colombia)
The Patriotic Union or UP , was a leftist Colombian political party founded by the FARC and the Colombian Communist Party in 1985, as part of the peace negotiations that the guerrillas held with the Conservative Belisario Betancur administration...
, ELN
National Liberation Army (Colombia)
National Liberation Army is a revolutionary, avowed Marxist guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia since 1964....
, Popular Liberation Army\EPL, M-19
19th of April Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance , or AD/M-19.The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970...
, among many others; The Drug Cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
s such as the Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
, Cali Cartel
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño...
, and others; Paramilitarism
Paramilitarism in Colombia
Paramilitarism in Colombia refers to the origins and activities of far right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia during the 20th century.Right-wing paramilitary groups are the parties considered to be most responsible for human rights violations in Colombia during the later half of the current...
and the AUC
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was created as an umbrella organization of regional far-right...
. The Colombian National Police has been fighting against these many threats tainted or involved in some cases of corruption and accusations of human rights violations amid the efforts of the majority of the institution to change its image.
Late 1990s improvement drive
After some of its members were accused of being involved in many corruption cases, including guerrilla collaboration, paramilitarism and the cleansing of the leftist Patriotic Union Party, among other cases, the corruption generated by the drug cartels illegal money or other criminal activities, also fueled by the successive weak presidencies, the Colombian National Police became untrusted by the general population of Colombia, the country was facing an intense conflict or a full scale civil warCivil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
.
Rosso José Serrano
Rosso josé Serrano Cadena was born on August 30, 1942 in Vélez, Colombia. Head Chief General of the Colombian National Police from 1994 to 2000 during Ernesto Samper's presidency and was one of the masterminds behind the dismantling of the Cali Cartel and Medellín Cartel...
. Colombia's problems were demanding a strong government with strong institutions to face the numerous violations to the constitution and the population in general. The first steps towards this path was the deputarion process of bad policemen inside the force and targeting the major criminal organizations. The institution also focused on providing better benefits for the Policemen and their families and a particular effort to reinstate the trust of the community on the Police force emphasizing on preventing crime, educating the population and the policemen on cordial relationship, neighbor watch, cooperation with solidarity and community development.
Since 1995 the National Police began to change norms, structures and standard operating procedures, essentially on policemen judgment towards accomplishing missions and emphasizing on those whom are willing to work with self-less service, integrity, leadership and vision of improving the population in general.
The National Police continues to have some corruption and human rights problems but the improvement has been considerably positive including the formation and education of personnel in other countries law enforcement institutions and educational institutions through cooperation agreements. http://snportal.policia.gov.co/inicio/portal/portal.nsf/17e5766707ce08f585256ebe004a8e6d/2539f3b976ca07700525711f004e3bf2?OpenDocument The institution is also highly involved in the Plan Colombia
Plan Colombia
The term Plan Colombia is most often used to refer to U.S. legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling and combating a left-wing insurgency by supporting different activities in Colombia....
.