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Chile
Index
The Carabineros are commanded by a director general and
organized geographically into three main zones--the
Northern Zone,
the Central Zone, and the Southern Zone. Each of these
zones is in
turn subdivided into prefectures (prefecturas),
subprefectures (subprefecturas), commissariats
(comisarĂas), subcommissariats
(subcomisarĂas),
lieutenancies (tenencias), reserves
(retenes), and
outposts (puestos avanzados).
The Carabineros also include marine and air sections.
The Air
Police, which ranks as a separate prefecture, dates from
1946, when
it was formed with a single Aeronca Champion aircraft. The
Air
Police acquired its first helicopter in 1968; by 1993 its
inventory
of helicopters had increased to fourteen (see
table 46,
Appendix).
Operationally, the Carabineros are divided into
seventeen
departments: analysis and evaluation, armaments and
munitions,
borders and boundaries, civic action, data processing,
drug control
and prevention of offenses, finance, forestry, internal
security,
legal, minors, police services, public relations, social
action,
supply, traffic control, and transport. In addition to
their normal
law enforcement and allied functions, the Carabineros
perform
extensive civic action, including the provision of medical
and
dental services to the populations of the less developed
regions of
the country and the protection of forests and wildlife.
The
Carabineros are also responsible for customs control and
the
Presidential Guard. Separate prefectures deal with the Air
Police,
the Radio Patrol, and the Special Forces.
The largest single concentration of Carabineros is in
Santiago,
where apart from headquarters and administrative
personnel, the
schools, and the Presidential Guard, there are five
geographical
prefectures: the Central Prefecture, North Prefecture,
South
Prefecture, East Prefecture, and West Prefecture. These
are in turn
subdivided into twenty-six territorial and nine
operational
commissariats.
Data as of March 1994
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