Imperial Security Bureau / Legends The Imperial Security Bureau ( ISB ) , the public branch known as Imperial Security Services or simply Imperial Security , was a law enforcement and internal intelligence organization of the Galactic Empire under Galactic Emperor Palpatine . Based in the massive ISB Central Office on Imperial Center , it was separate from , larger than , and often rival to Imperial Intelligence . History . The Imperial Security Bureau was formed in 19 BBY by Crueya Vandron . Its forerunner , the Internal Security Bureau , was combined with elements of the fanatical Commission for the Preservation of the New Order , formerly the Commission for the Protection of the Republic , and the Coruscant Security Force ' s Anti - Terrorism Unit and detective units . Vandron formed the organization to keep an eye on Imperial Intelligence and to ensure that the New Order ' s ideals were carried out . Ironically , several of the CSF officers transferred to the ISB were not enthusiastic about Palpatine or the New Order . The ISB stationed moles among the officers of all capital ships in the Imperial Navy ; their duty was to report on any possibly treasonous activities or sentiments present among others of the ship ' s crew ( especially the commander ) , and to execute them if they acted upon them . The ISB served more of a police function than Imperial Intelligence , with a more public presence ; ISB operatives were not afraid of identifying themselves , and maintained an overt force of Operations Ships to make arrests . The ISB also was responsible for wiping out any memories of the Jedi Order . They destroyed the collection of Jedi antiquities on Obroa - skai . In large part because of their role as the Empire ' s secret police , the ISB was largely hated by members of the Imperial Military despite having an official working relationship with them , due to the fact that they constantly have to look over their shoulder . Even though several key ISB members , such as Colonel Wullf Yularen , died aboard the first Death Star when it was destroyed over Yavin , the ISB continued to be a strong political faction within the Empire as evidenced by ISB Central Commander Sollaine making a bid to replace Darth Vader at the Emperor ' s side shortly after " Executor " was finished . Such was his power that he commandeered Vader ' s old flagship , " Devastator " , to track down the important Imperial turncoat , Rivoche Tarkin . After the death of Palpatine at the Battle of Endor , the ISB along with other Imperial factions devolved into the Imperial Civil War . Specifically , the ISB and Imperial Intelligence initiated a campaign of assassinations against each other that annihilated much of both organizations ' leadership . By the end of the civil war and the Imperial Reunification under Admiral Natasi Daala , the ISB had dissolved . A successor agency , Imperial Security , was later formed to serve as a security force for the Imperial Remnant . Organization . Commission of Operations . The Commission of Operations was responsible for passing on the directions of the Central Office directly to the Sector Officer for each of the various ISB branches . All coordination between the different branches within a sector , or between Bureau resources in separate sectors , was dictated by the Commission of Operations . Surveillance . Surveillance was the largest branch of the ISB , with nearly 35 percent of all personnel in the Bureau . The quality of agents in Surveillance , however , was not always great . A good portion of Surveillance agents were candidates straight from the Sub - Adult Group , but these were poorly trained , albeit eager and promising . The rest were made up of properly trained CompForce Observer s , agents from Progress ' s Sector Monitor , Improvement ' s Sector Development , and local contacts aiming to subvert other local powers . Surveillance was tasked with uncovering beings or activities helpful to the Rebel Alliance or that may obstruct the Empire ' s plans . Many of Surveillance ' s targets were later turned over to Investigations for more thorough action . Surveillance was also responsible for instilling fear of the Empire into its citizens , so that they would think twice before assisting the Rebellion . Investigations . Investigations was the skillfully superior branch of the Imperial Security Bureau , when compared to Surveillance . Many Department of Modification agents and proven agents from Surveillance made up Investigations . Agents of Investigations were always in direct communication with the Imperial military , allowing them to call on a massive amount of firepower and resources should the situation require it , so they could take down Rebel threats with considerably faster response time and effectiveness . Internal Affairs . The Internal Affairs branch was the group responsible for watching COMPNOR , Imperial Personnel , and the citizens of the Empire , another example of multiple layers of control and authority overlapping one another in the Galactic Empire . Science , Commerce and Justice groups within the Coalition for Progress , and the Enforcements branch of the ISB , were all key targets of Internal Affairs . It is unknown whether or not the Internal Affairs division had the authority to monitor the Select Committee , though it is known that they did not consider the Select Committee to be above suspicion . Due to COMPNOR ' s ambiguity in regards to rules and procedures for policing its own members , Internal Affairs was able to take advantage of the situation to expand their power . Affairs agents were isolated from the rest of COMPNOR and had thus developed their own jargon and their own interpretation of the New Order . Other branches of COMPNOR complained about the autonomy of Internal Affairs and their actions , but neither Crueya Vandron nor Emperor Palpatine ever made attempts to stop it , as they apparently supported the work of Internal Affairs . Internal Affairs called their field agents " keyns " , while they called their investigative staff " dirtbugs " . The division also developed their own collection of terms to differentiate between the ways they conducted a specific investigation . To " audit " was to conduct an investigation in which the target and everyone around him knew the investigation was being conducted . " Finesse " was conducting an investigation by asking the target ' s help in rooting out other traitors in the hopes they would give away incriminating evidence in their eagerness to point the finger at others . " Scattering " was the method of grabbing someone whom you had no evidence of foul play of , and then observing the behavior of the person ' s associates to see if any of these react in suspicious ways . " Crustbusting " was the method of harassing a suspect in the hopes he would do something criminal . " Cultivation " was the method of allowing a suspect with only minor wrongdoing to proceed unhindered so agents would catch the suspect and any associates in a larger crime , and " irrigation " was covertly staging events so a " cultivated " suspect would have a greater opportunity to commit a larger crime . Finally , to " Jabba " was to set a suspect up in a no - win situation in which he must commit a crime . The Internal Affairs agent would then promise to forgive the crime if the suspect did a few favors ; favors which inevitably caused the suspect to commit some other crime . This ensured that the subject would be permanently indebted to the ISB . Interrogation . If a subject caught by Investigations was suspected of still hiding the information the ISB wanted to know , the subject was shipped off to the Interrogation branch . The information they uncovered was sent to Investigations . The subject , however , disappeared , and no one outside Interrogation was really willing to find out just what happened to them . Re - Education . When a member of COMPNOR was convicted of a crime by Internal Affairs , the subject was transferred to Re - Education . The subject was usually always returned to COMPNOR , although in a position of lower importance . It was reported that these individuals acted strangely when returned , their conversation disjointed , and their emotions out of phase with the situation . They were called " Graduated of Re - Education " or " Re - education " officially , but amongst other members of COMPNOR , it was said they were " Re - brained " . Enforcement . The Enforcement branch provided specialized muscle for the ISB . They occasionally operated for Internal Affairs , but most often they were working for Investigations . Enforcement was the only division within all of COMPNOR that hired beings who were not members of COMPNOR , which earned the suspicion of the Internal Affairs division , who were worried the use of unindoctrinated personnel was too risky . Nevertheless , Enforcement was thus able to increase the amount of available talent , and perform operations the Select Committee would rather not be performed by COMPNOR members . In addition , Enforcement did its best to protect its operatives from unwarranted interferences from the Internal Affairs division , though a permanent tension existed between the two groups that no one could avoid . ISB stormtroopers . The ISB had its own stormtroopers that operated outside the command structure of the Stormtrooper Corps . As they wore identical armor to that of regular stormtroopers , they were sometimes used to infiltrate standard units of stormtroopers to ensure their loyalty and the execution of their orders . A good example of this was an attack against Rebel sympathizers on Teardrop in 0 ABY , where ISB stormtroopers noticed that stormtrooper Daric LaRone was deliberately not shooting civilians . They were also more questioning of their orders than standard stormtroopers , as shown when two ISB stormtroopers betrayed the Emperor ' s Hand Mara Jade , while she was infiltrating a pirate base on Gepparin . They were often attached to ISB tactical unit s . Behind the scenes . The ISB has several accounts of its founding and this article treats the various sources as complementary . These accounts include the founding by Crueya Vandron according to the " Imperial Sourcebook " , the Internal Security Bureau as the ISB ' s forerunner according to " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , and the ISB being formed from chunks of the CSF including detectives and the Anti - Terrorism Unit according to " " .