Originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, CRP was raised in response to the political unrest and agitations in the then Princely States of India following the Madras Resolution of the All-India Congress Committee in 1936 and the ever-growing desire of the Crown Representative to help the vast majority of the native States preserve law and order as part of imperial policy.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Home Minister, visualised a multi-dimensional role for it in tune with the changing needs of a newly independent nation.

During the early 1950s, the performance of the CRPF detachments in enforcing law and order in Bhuj, the then Patiala and East Punjab States Union and Chambal ravines was appreciated by all quarters.

On 21 October 1959, SI Karam Singh and 20 other CRPF personnel were attacked by the Chinese Army at Hot Springs in Ladakh resulting in 10 casualties.

[5] In the late 50s and early 60s, contingents of the CRPF were sent to Kutch, Rajasthan, and Sindh borders to check infiltration and trans-border crimes.

For the first time in history, thirteen companies of CRPF were airlifted to join the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka to fight the militant cadres.

Besides, CRPF personnel were also sent to Haiti, Namibia, Somalia, and Maldives to deal with the law and order situation there, as a part of the UN Peacekeeping Force.

Each sector consists of one or more administrative and/or Operational Ranges, headed by an officer of the rank of deputy inspector general (DIG) of Police.

It has a total strength of 15 battalions and was formed in October 1992, as a riot control force to deal with communal and related civil unrest.

Advani, then Deputy Prime Minister of India, on 7 October 2003 for "its selfless service to the nation in the 11th year of coming into existence".

One team in each company of the RAF is composed of female personnel to deal more effectively with situations where the force faces women demonstrators.

[15] It is a battalion-sized unit of the CRPF tasked with providing security for the outer cordon of the Prime Minister's official residence on 7, Lok Kalyan Marg and his office in the North Block as well as during outdoor functions.

[18] Commando Battalion for Resolute Action[19] (CoBRA) is the special operation unit of CRPF created in 2008 to deal the Naxalite insurgency in India.

10 CoBRA units raised between 2008 and 2011 have been trained, equipped, and deployed in all LWE/ Insurgent affected areas of the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, as well as Assam & Meghalaya is one of the best Central Armed Police in the country trained to survive, fight and win in the jungle.

The Assistant Commandants are Group 'A' Gazetted officers, directly appointed upon clearing an exam conducted by the UPSC which is held yearly.