Ecuador Police
Figure 21. Organization of the National Police, 1988
Primary responsibility for the preservation of public order
rested with the National Police functioning under the supervision
of the minister of government and justice. According to Article 136
of the Constitution, the police are an auxiliary body of the armed
forces and have the mission of guaranteeing internal order and
individual and collective security.
The congress established by the constitution of 1830 decreed
that the separate municipal councils would create their own police
departments and would have appropriate regulations for law
enforcement. For the first thirty years after independence, the
police systems were either under the control of the separate
municipalities or dominated by the army. The police developed
slowly under a system of provincial organizations until the
formation of the first national police organization in 1937. In
1951 the name was changed from the National Civil Guard to the
National Civil Police and in 1979 to the National Police.
In 1988 the National Police had about 18,000 members grouped in
a highly centralized structure organized along military lines. A
clear line of demarcation existed between officers and troops with
little or no opportunity for troops to advance to officer rank. The
National Police was headed by a commanding general of the police
who reported directly to the minister of government and justice.
The organization consisted of a number of support directorates, as
well as technical operations directorates
(see
fig. 21). The
country was divided into four police districts, with headquarters
in Quito, Riobamba, Cuenca, and Guayaquil, each with five commands
corresponding to provincial boundaries. The Galápagos Islands were
included in the Guayaquil district. The National Police also had
three instructional facilities: the Troop Training School, which
offered basic instruction for enlisted ranks; the Officer Training
School, a three-year academy for high school graduates; and the
Police Officers' Higher Training School, which provided advanced
courses.
Several specialized and local police services supplemented the
operations of the National Police. The National Directorate for
Control of Illegal Narcotics reported directly to the minister of
government and justice. The Customs Police, with fewer than 2,000
officers under the Ministry of Finance and Credit, countered
smuggling at ports and airports, supervised the storage of goods in
customs, and checked baggage of individuals entering and leaving
the country. Both Quito and Guayaquil had metropolitan police
forces of several hundred members with a number of low-level
functions, such as enforcing local ordinances, controlling public
vendors, assuring the removal of trash, and maintaining order in
public places. Most other cities also had some type of local
police, generally poorly organized and led, whose contribution to
law enforcement and prevention of crime was minimal.
Data as of 1989
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