History of the Colombian National Police

On October 23, 1890, acting president Carlos Holguín sanctioned into Law the authorization to hire any qualified trainers from the either the United States or Europe to organize and train the newly established National Police.

The National Police was intended to not recognize privileges or distinctions among the general population, with the only exception of international treaties established in the Constitution that gave immunity to members of diplomatic missions.

A mutual fund called Caja de Gratificaciones was set up to pay benefits to service members and financed by the penalties imposed to the civilian population.

Soon thereafter, as authorized by Law 74 of November 19, 1919, Colombia's president hired a French instructor and chief of detectives, expert in the anthropometric system to train the National Police.

In 1939 the Colombian government receives the first cooperation agreement with the United States, through a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) committee headed by agent Edgar K. Thompson.

On June 13, 1953, Lieutenant General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla seizes power in a coup d'etat assuming functions as President of Colombia.

In 1964 and as mandated by the Decree 349 of February 19 of this same year the Police Superior Academy is founded to endoctrine officers with the rank of Major to the grade of Lieutenant Colonels.

During the 1960s and 1970s the National Police started facing guerrilla threats which were emerging during these years as a backlash from the political bipartisan struggle of La Violencia years and also the growing problem of contraband and illegal drugs trafficking that also surfaced and the involvement of the United States with the implementation of the Plan LASO as a proxy war plan against the expansion of Communism during the Cold War, the later declaration of the War on Drugs and the Plan Colombia, would eventually help develop the present and ongoing Colombian Armed Conflict involving mainly guerrillas; the FARC-EP including its Patriotic Union Party, ELN, Popular Liberation Army\EPL, M-19, among many others; The Drug Cartels such as the Medellín Cartel, Cali Cartel, and others; Paramilitarism and the AUC.

The Colombian National Police has been fighting against these many threats tainted or involved in some cases of corruption and accusations of human rights violations amid the efforts of the majority of the institution to change its image.

After some of its members were accused of being involved in many corruption cases, including guerrilla collaboration, paramilitarism and the cleansing of the leftist Patriotic Union Party, among other cases, the corruption generated by the drug cartels illegal money or other criminal activities, also fueled by the successive weak presidencies, the Colombian National Police became untrusted by the general population of Colombia, the country was facing an intense conflict or a full scale civil war.

Since 1995 the National Police began to change norms, structures and standard operating procedures, essentially on policemen judgment towards accomplishing missions and emphasizing on those who are willing to work with self-less service, integrity, leadership and vision of improving the population in general.