They are in practice separated fully from the three other military branches by department but still are considered part of the armed forces.

The Carabinier Regiment was then a Chilean Army unit, thus the reason why the Carabineros of today sport military ranks and insignia.

On April 27, 1927, President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo merged the Fiscal Police, the Rural Police, and the existing Corps of Carabineros to form the Carabineros de Chile, one unified, paramilitary and national security institution under the direction of the national government.

In 1939 the service received its own staff college, the Police Sciences Academy, and its own equestrian demonstration unit, the Cuadro Verde, and the mounted training squadron began the present day NCO School in 1951.

The next year, the Children and Fatherland Foundation was formed as its social responsibility arm for troubled kids and preteens.

The role of Carabineros during the 2019 Chilean protests has been the subject of several reports by human rights organizations due to their alleged use of deliberate excessive force.

[4] The National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) reported a total of 232 eye injuries by the 25th of November, 163 as a result of rubber bullets.

[5] Regarding the use of rubber bullets Sergio Micco, the director of the INDH, said that the organization had observed over 161 demonstrations in which they were used despite it being against protocol because of a lack of physical danger to carabineros.

Under the current Chilean Constitution the Carabineros are integrated directly into the Armed Forces in a state of emergency to better guarantee the public order.