The Militia was subordinated to the Federal Secretariat of Internal Affairs (Serbo-Croatian: Savezni sekretarijat unutrašnjih poslova / Савезни секретаријат унутрашњих послова).

[1] Unlike the Yugoslavia's military, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), the Militia was organized in a decentralized way, on a territorial basis.

[2] The structure of the Militia formations was as follows: branch – sector – platoon – company – battalion – detachment – brigade.

The training of first members of the Militia began immediately after the liberation of Belgrade: initially, the officers of the Militia patrolled the streets, served as guards and guides, and they were assigned goals and objectives by members of the KNOJ and the commanders of the Yugoslav Army.

After the transfer of OZNA to the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Directorate for State Security (UDBA) was formed.

A significant part of internal affairs was placed at the disposal of autonomous republics and administrative-territorial units.

This led to the breaking of the entire unified system of state security of SFR Yugoslavia.

[2] The first group consisted of the People's Militia, in charge of fight against crime, traffic security and the protection of borders.

Stripped of its military status, European-styled police ranks were later adopted for the republican force.