page_title: Law enforcement in Bolivia
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: Law enforcement in Bolivia / Organization
caption_attribution_description: Español: Policía Nacional de Bolivia custodiando el Paso Internacional Villazón (Bolivia) - La Quiaca (Argentina).
context_page_description: Law enforcement in Bolivia is reliant on the 40.000-strong Cuerpo de Policía Nacional responsible for internal security and maintaining law and order Unlike many South American countries, the Bolivian police force always has been accountable to the national government rather than to state or local officials. The 1950 Organic Law of Police and Carabiniers officially separated the police from the military. Frequently, however, the national police call upon the military for assistance in quelling riots and civil protests.
  The countrywide emergency number for the police, including the highway patrol, is 110.
context_section_description: The police corps, with at least 40.000 personnel in the 2020s, consists of:
  The General Administration (Administración General) section.
  The 5,000-member paramilitary National Guard (Guardia Nacional), referred to as the carabiniers (Carabineros).
  The Directorate of National Investigations (Dirección de Investigaciones Nacionales, DIN), which cooperated with the International Police (Interpol).
  The Customs Police (Policía de Aduana).
  The Traffic Police (Policía de Tránsito).
  The National Highway Service (Servicio Nacional de Carreteras), which operated under the authority of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
  The Fire Corps (Cuerpo de Bomberos), which was manned by police personnel.
  The National Police Academy.
  All of these subordinate entities were separate administrative units within the director general's office. This office, which also served as national headquarters for all police and national guard activities, consisted of a command group (the Police General Command), which was established in the early 1980s; and a staff (Estado Mayor) made up of twelve numbered, conventionally established staff sections.
caption: Policía Nacional in Villazón on the border with Argentina.
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