The Afghan police traces its roots to the early 18th century when the Hotak dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani's rise to power.

It became a strong organized force after 1880 when Emir Abdur Rahman Khan established diplomatic relations with British India.

The Ministry of Interior in Kabul, under the new Karzai government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, exercised little control over provincial police structures and was unable to effectively secure the remote provinces.

Most of these problems had originally started after the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah fell apart in 1992 and the country entered into a civil war.

[7] Traditionally, police officers were poorly paid, recruited or conscripted from the poorest classes of society and frequently held in contempt by the communities they served.

As the US Department of State International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau's (INL) activity at this time was limited in resources and scope, the US Departments of Defense and State, in 2005, decided to shift the implementation of the police training and equipment program to the Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan (OSC-A), under the authority of the Commanding General, Combined Forces Command (CFC-A).

[10] In early 2012, the Ministry of Interior provided 300 armoured vehicles to the 1st border police brigade stationed around the porous Durand Line, in Nangarhar province.

"[11] In February 2012, the United States promised that it would support the government of Afghanistan to protect its sovereignty and effectively control its borders.

[12] At a 2012 meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in Chicago, US President Barack Obama said, "We are going to be consulting with not only Denmark but our other allies in making sure that is a smooth transition and one that is sustained, where we continue to help the Afghan government support its own sovereignty and effectively control its borders.

"[13] In April 2013, the Ministry of Interior announced a strategy to strengthen and make the ANP professional with support from the international community.

[14] Following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban under the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan established the secret police and security surveillance agency known as the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI).

The ANP is composed of the following sub-agencies: The Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) is the primary civil law enforcement agency in Afghanistan.

Their primary responsibility was to provide traffic safety and overall security of the "Ring Road" highway that connects most of the major population centers in Afghanistan.

[25] The main ANP training facility in Kabul was established by the German police mission and is now led by the United States.

The original formation of police and security forces saw an overwhelming majority of senior-ranking personnel due to disorganization and corruption.

It was a period of total mismanagement that allowed people to use bribery and other forms of influence to gain prominent positions in the national police force.

MOI began a Rank Reform initiative in October 2005 to completely overhaul and replace its existing leadership structure and composition.

The United Nations and ISAF forces conducted background checks on all eligible candidates in attempt to thwart the acceptance of MOI leaders with past human rights violations or records of corruption.

It was reported in 2008 that Taliban fighters of both high and low rank have been able to quickly buy their release from police custody with bribes ranging from $100–$10,000.

In January 2013, Hakim Shujayee, a Hazara police commander in Uruzgan Province was accused by higher authorities of killing 121 local people.

[10] It was reported in February 2010 that police in Afghanistan are largely illiterate, approximately 17 percent of them tested positive for illegal drugs, and they were widely accused of demanding bribes.

Other vehicles include Humvees, diesel-powered variants of the U.S. consumer Nissan Frontiers, Toyota Hilux pickup trucks imported from Thailand, and Volkswagen Transporter T4/Eurovans, as well as Yamaha motorcycles donated by Japan.

It is common to find a varying array of blue, green and gray uniforms amongst the police due to different manufacturers and the rapid growing of the force with many people joining.