Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and intelligence in British, Commonwealth, Irish, and other police forces.
They were tasked mainly with monitoring the Communist Party of Australia and related political groups regarded as extremist or subversive.
It is mandated to perform intelligence operations inside the Bahamas to ensure the safety of Bahamian citizens and foreigners.
The chief of the Special Branch has the rank of Additional Inspector General (Addl IGP) and reports directly to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
The ISD was created to replace the Royal Brunei Police's Special Branch division, which was disbanded on August 1, 1993.
[14] According to the Fijian government, this was done due to the "impact of modern crimes with other unlawful and illegal activities in national development demands dramatic changes in the Force.
[16]: 203 In addition to anti-subversion operations, its role during its first two decades also included immigration, passport control and registration of persons.
However, more serious espionage detection is the responsibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), India's federal internal security agency.
The Special Branch functions at the state level and is headed by a senior-ranked officer, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).
The special branch staff play a very important role in collecting advance intelligence about law and order matters as well as illegal activities like cannabis plantation/transportation, illicit attacks, etc.
The counter-terrorist and counterintelligence unit operates under the auspices of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB) of the Garda Síochána (Irish National Police).
The British South Africa Police (BSAP) developed its Special Branch in the early 1950s amid growing political unrest in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
It remained active following the dissolution of the federation and was instrumental in creating the Selous Scouts during the Rhodesian Bush War.
[28] In 1939, it was restructured into the Malayan Security Service (MSS) which was not yet fully operational by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War.
[31] During Apartheid, the South African Police's Security Branch, also known as the Special Branch[32] was a police unit often used to attack anti-Apartheid groups using techniques and tactics including such as conducting surveillance, infiltrating meetings, recruiting informers, and obtaining documents and leaflets.
They have also been linked to torture, extralegal detention, and forced disappearances and assassinations against anti-Apartheid activists in the ANC and SACP.
Controversially, they have also been linked to the bombing of anti-apartheid groups COSATU and SACC during the South African Truth & Reconciliation Committees.
