National Police Corps of Spain

National Police Force Cuerpo Nacional de Policía
Common name	Policía Nacional
Abbreviation	CNP
Seal of the National Police Corps of Spain
Badge of the National Police Corps of Spain
Flag of the National Police Corps of Spain
Motto	Ley y Orden Law and Order
Agency overview
Formed	March 13, 1986
Preceding agencies	Cuerpo Superior de Policía Cuerpo de Policía Nacional
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency (Operations jurisdiction)	Spain
Population	46,661,950
Legal jurisdiction	As per operations jurisdiction.
Governing body	Government of Spain
Constituting instruments	Spanish Constitution of 1978 Organic Act 2/1986
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian police
Operational structure
Overviewed by	Directorate-General of the Police and the Civil Guard
Headquarters	Calle Miguel Ángel, 5, 28039 Madrid, Spain
Officers	87,872
Minister responsible	Jorge Fernández Díaz, Minister of the Interior
Agency executive	Ignacio Cosidó, Director-General
Notables Anniversary October 2 Award Order of Police Merit
Website
http://www.policia.es

The National Police Corps (Spanish: Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, CNP; [ˈkwerpo naθjoˈnal de poliˈθi.a]) is the national civilian police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst countryside policing is generally the responsibility of the Civil Guard, the Spanish gendarmerie. The CNP operates under the authority of Spain's Ministry of the Interior. They mostly handle criminal investigation, judicial, terrorism and immigration matters. The powers of the National Police Force varies according to the autonomous communities, Ertzaintza in the Basque Country, Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia, and Policía Foral (Foruzaingoa) in Navarre are the primary police agencies while BESCAM in the Madrid region is more of a resources provider. In Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Galicia, and Valencia the National Police units are functionally acting directly under the orders of the Autonomous Communities to which they are attached.

The 1986 organic law unifying the separate uniformed and plainclothes branches of the national police was a major reform that required a considerable period of time to be brought into full effect. The former plainclothes service, known as the Superior de Policía (Higher Police Force), but often referred to as the "secret police" (former the General Police Service), consisted of some 9,000 officers. Prior to 1986, it had a supervisory and coordinating role in police operations, conducted domestic surveillance, collected intelligence, investigated major crimes, issued identity documents, and carried out liaison with foreign police forces.