Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and intelligence in British, Commonwealth, Irish, and other police forces. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usually of a political or sensitive nature, and conducts investigations to protect the State from perceived threats of subversion, particularly terrorism and other extremist political activity.
The first Special Branch, or Special Irish Branch, as it was then known, was a unit of London's Metropolitan Police formed in March 1883 to combat the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The name became Special Branch as the unit's remit widened to include more than just Irish Republican-related counterespionage.
Australia
Most state police forces and the federal police had a Special Branch. They were tasked mainly with monitoring the Communist Party of Australia and related political groups regarded as extremist or subversive.[citation needed] They also focused on German and Japanese activity during World War II.
The Australian Federal Police Special Branch was renamed the Special Intelligence Branch in 1985 and merged into the Security Intelligence & Diplomatic Liaison Branch in 1995.[1]
The New South Wales Police Force Subversive Organisations Branch was formed in 1933.[2] It was combined with the Commonwealth Police, Royal Australian Navy Police and Australian Army Police at the outbreak of World War II to form the Military/Police Intelligence Branch.[3] The civilian component was formed back into the Police Subversive Organisations Branch in 1946, which was renamed Special Branch in 1948. The Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service found Special Branch was gathering information on people who posed no threat of politically motivated violence, and as a result it was disbanded in 1997.[4]
The Queensland Police Special Bureau was formed on 30 July 1940 and renamed Special Branch on 7 April 1948. It has been criticised for being used for political purposes by the Bjelke-Petersen government in the 1970s and 1980s, such as enforcing laws against protests (sometimes outnumbering the protesters or using provocateurs to incite violence so the protesters could be arrested[5]) and investigating and harassing political opponents.[6] It was disbanded in 1989 following a recommendation by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption.[6] The Special Branch destroyed its records before Fitzgerald could subpoena them.[6]
South Australia Police formed an Intelligence Branch at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, which was disbanded in 1945. A Subversive Section was established in 1947 and renamed Special Branch in 1949. It amassed files on Australian Labor Party politicians, church leaders, trade unionists and so-called "pink files" on gay community activists at a time when homosexuality was still illegal.[7] The South Australia Police was deliberately vague about the existence of Special Branch. In 1970, Commissioner Harold Salisbury told Premier Don Dunstan that Special Branch did not exist. A 1977 inquiry by Justice White of the Supreme Court of South Australia confirmed the existence and found the files were "scandalously inaccurate, irrelevant to security purposes and outrageously unfair to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of loyal and worthy citizens".[8] Dunstan sacked Salisbury for misleading Parliament about the existence of the "pink files".[9] Special Branch was disbanded in 1984.[10]
The Victoria Police Special Branch was formed in 1931 and disbanded in 1983.[11] Similar work in monitoring terrorism is conducted by the Security Intelligence Group, established in 2000.[12]
The Security and Intelligence Branch, also known as Special Branch, is the main domestic intelligence and security service in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is mandated to perform intelligence operations inside the Bahamas to ensure the safety of Bahamiancitizens and foreigners. The branch is also mandated to perform background checks on persons who have been recruited for jobs such as police officers and defence force officers and to check persons up for promotions.[13] The Director of the Security Intelligence Branch holds the rank of Chief Superintendent.
The Bangladeshi Special Branch is an intelligence agency of Bangladesh Police. The Special Branch has twelve different sections through which it carries out the directives of the Government and around 64 district based offices, called District Special Branch and also has offices in many Upazila/Thana areas. All the members are recruited from the Bangladesh Police. The chief of the Special Branch has the rank of Additional Inspector General (Addl IGP) and reports directly to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Belize
It is responsible for the internal affairs of the country and collecting intelligence on behalf of the security services.
The Special Branch unit of the Fiji Police Force is classed as one of the best intelligence units in the Asia Pacific region. Similar to their Commonwealth counterparts, the Fijian Special Branch deals with matters of national security. They facilitate Interpol, counter terrorism, surveillance, anti-espionage and VIP protection units. Entry into Special Branch is usually by recruitment. Even though it is a police unit, Special Branch also recruits from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
The unit's name was changed to the Fiji Police Intelligence Bureau in 2009.[14] According to the Fijian government, this was done due to the "impact of modern crimes with other unlawful and illegal activities in national development demands dramatic changes in the Force."[15] This was also done while the police force was being modernised.[15]
In the face of a perceived direct Communist threat to Hong Kong, an Anti-Communist Squad was established in the Criminal Investigation Department of the then Hong Kong Police by 1930. It was named the Political Department in Chinese (政治部). In 1933, the squad's English name became "Special Branch" while its Chinese name remained unchanged.[16]:203 In addition to anti-subversion operations, its role during its first two decades also included immigration, passport control and registration of persons.[16]:204
The division was disbanded in 1995, prior to the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.[17] Units of SB were reassigned under the Security Wing (Department B) – Crime and Security.[18]
India
The Special Branch is a separate wing in the state police forces in India. Like their counterparts in the United Kingdom, they deal with matters of state security. However, more serious espionage detection is the responsibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), India's federal internal security agency.
There have been many allegations that the Special Branch is used by the ruling government for setting up surveillance on their political opponents. The Special Branch has its own Detective Constables, Head Constables, Inspector rankings and superior police officer rankings. Every police station is to have a Special Branch head constable or Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) (working plain clothes or Mufti), he would be observing the society in general, and also taking reports from the uniformed police constables on general patrol. The special branch staff play a very important role in collecting advance intelligence about law and order matters as well as illegal activities like cannabis plantation/transportation, illicit attacks, etc. They forward the information to the respective Superintendents of police for necessary action.
In Ireland, the 'Special Branch' is known officially as the Special Detective Unit (SDU). The counter-terrorist and counterintelligence unit operates under the auspices of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB) of the Garda Síochána (Irish National Police). The SDU is responsible for the investigation of threats to state security and the monitoring of persons and groups who pose a threat on both national and international fronts. The SDU works closely with other special units within the Garda Síochána, such as the National Surveillance Unit (NSU) and Emergency Response Unit (ERU), and Ireland's national and military intelligence agency – the Defence Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence. The Special Detective Unit has a close working relationship with similar units in other western countries, particularly the United Kingdom, who share information to target, detect and disrupt the activities of terrorists.[19]
The Malaysian Special Branch is an intelligence agency attached to the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP). The SB is empowered to acquire and develop intelligence on internal and external threats to the nation, subversive activities, extremist activities and activities of sabotage and spying. It is also empowered to analyse and advise on the necessary course of action to the various departments and agencies both within the Police Department and other related agencies.
Myanmar
The Special Branch under the control of the Myanmar Police Force is also known as the Special Intelligence Department.[20][21]
New Zealand
The New Zealand Police Special Branch was formally created on 29 December 1949. At the time, the-then Police Commissioner Jim Cummings decided that the section of the Police Force dealing with subversive organisations would be designated the Special Branch, following a recent precedent established by a conference of Police Commissioners in Melbourne in November 1949. Its functions included dealing with subversive organisations and vetting public servants. Known targets of the Special Branch included the Communist Party of New Zealand, the Waterside Workers' Union, and the left-wing New Zealand diplomat and alleged KGB spy Desmond Patrick Costello and the civil servant and intellectual Bill Sutch. In November 1956, the Special Branch's functions were transferred to the New Zealand Security Service, which was later renamed the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.[22][23][24]
The Security and Intelligence Division (SID) is the foreign intelligence agency of Singapore responsible for gathering and analysing intelligence related to the country's external security.[28]
Although it is under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), it has a certain independence in that it is not under the control of either of the Permanent Secretaries for Defence.[29]
During Apartheid, the South African Police's Security Branch, also known as the Special Branch[30] was a police unit often used to attack anti-Apartheid groups using techniques and tactics including such as conducting surveillance, infiltrating meetings, recruiting informers, and obtaining documents and leaflets. They have also been linked to torture, extralegal detention, and forced disappearances and assassinations against anti-Apartheid activists in the ANC and SACP. They first gained this role in the 1960s, under the regime of Justice Minister "B.J." Vorster, who convened the Special Branch to target these groups. Controversially, they have also been linked to the bombing of anti-apartheid groups COSATU and SACC during the South African Truth & Reconciliation Committees.[31] It is now the Crime Intelligence Unit which investigates crime but which continues to investigate groups perceived to be enemies of the state such as social movements.[32]
Sri Lanka
The Special Branch of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was created in late 1966 tasked with national security as an intelligence agency attached Ceylon Police Force. This was closed down in 1970.
The first Special Branch in the world was that of the Metropolitan Police, formed in London in 1883, with each British police force going on to form its own Special Branch. In Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (1922–2001) had the RUC Special Branch. Many of those in county and city police forces have since been merged or converted into inter-force regional counter terrorism units and organised crime units.[33][34]
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security and foreign intelligence. It is headquartered in Wellington and overseen by a Director-General, the Minister of New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee; independent oversight is provided by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other countries' foreign intelligence efforts.
Law enforcement in Australia is one of the three major components of the country's justice system, along with courts and corrections. Law enforcement officers are employed by all three levels of government – federal, state/territory, and local.
The Commonwealth Police (COMPOL) was the federal law enforcement agency in Australia between 1917 and 1979. A federal police force was first established in 1917, and operated under different names and in some periods as multiple organisations. In late 1979, the Commonwealth Police and Australian Capital Territory Police were merged to form the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the de facto police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Africa's transition to majority rule in 1994, the SAP was reorganised into the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the Global War on Terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.
New Zealand's intelligence agencies and units have existed, with some interruption, since World War II. At present, New Zealand's intelligence community has approximately 550 employees, and has a combined budget of around NZ$145 million.
The Special Detective Unit (SDU) is the main domestic security agency of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland, under the aegis of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB). It is the primary counter-terrorism and counter-espionage investigative unit within the state. The Special Detective Unit superseded the Special Branch, which itself replaced the older Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which was founded in 1921. They work in conjunction with the Defence Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence (J2) – Ireland's national intelligence service – on internal matters. The unit's headquarters are in Harcourt Street, Dublin City.
Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the South African Police Service (SAPS), South Africa's national police force. SAPS is responsible for investigating crime and security throughout the country. The "national police force is crucial for the safety of South Africa's citizens" and was established in accordance with the provisions of Section 205 of the Constitution of South Africa.
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.
Law enforcement in the Republic of Ireland is the responsibility of Ireland's civilian police force, the Garda Síochána, commonly referred to as the Gardaí. It is responsible for all civil policing within the country and has been the only territorial police force since their merger with the Dublin Metropolitan Police in 1925.
The National Surveillance Unit (NSU) is the principal clandestine intelligence gathering and surveillance operations unit of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The unit operates under the Crime & Security Branch (CSB), based at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, and also works from Harcourt Street, Dublin. Members of the unit are specially trained and selected Detective Gardaí who are tasked to remain covert whilst on and off duty, tracking suspected criminals, terrorists and hostile, foreign spies operating in Ireland. The unit's detectives are routinely armed. The National Surveillance Unit is understood to possess a manpower of approximately 100 officers, and is considered to be the most secretive arm of the force.
Irish security forces refer to the various security forces of Ireland. Among other roles, they carry out efforts to undermine the ongoing dissident Irish republican campaign since the Troubles. They consist of the following organisations;
The Crime and Security Branch (CSB) – previously known as C3 – is responsible for the administration of national security, counter terrorism and serious crime investigations within the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The section oversees intelligence relating to subversive, paramilitary and terrorism matters, conducts counter-intelligence, liaises with foreign law enforcement agencies, handles confidential informants, administers VIP and witness protection, monitors potential corrupt Garda officers and provides information on threats to the state to the Garda Commissioner and Government of Ireland.
The Garda Counter-Terrorism International (CTI) unit is attached to the Special Detective Unit (SDU) of the Garda Síochána, the national police service of Ireland. The Special Detective Unit and its subsections operate under the command of the Crime and Security Branch (CSB). The unit comes under the brief of the Assistant Commissioner for Crime & Security, and reports directly to the Garda Commissioner.
The Security Branch of the South African Police, established in 1947 as the Special Branch, was the security police apparatus of the apartheid state in South Africa. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was one of the three main state entities responsible for intelligence gathering, the others being the Bureau for State Security and the Military Intelligence division of the South African Defence Force. In 1987, at its peak, the Security Branch accounted for only thirteen percent of police personnel, but it wielded great influence as the "elite" service of the police.
↑ Gould, Ian (16 November 2005). "A Feast of diversity". Sydney Star Observer. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
↑ Cunningham, Andrew (1981). "Industrial Relations". In Parkin, Andrew; Patience, Allan (eds.). The Dunstan decade: social democracy at the state level. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. pp.163–178. ISBN978-0-582-71466-3.
↑ Kituai, August Ibrum K. (1998). My Gun, My Brother: The World of the Papua New Guinea Colonial Police, 1920–1960. University of Hawaii Press. p.99.
↑ Flower, K. (1987) Serving Secretly. An Intelligence Chief on Record: Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964 to 1981, (London: John Hammond); Parker, J. (2006) Assignment Selous Scouts: Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer, (Alberton: Galago).
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