The Republic of Vietnam National Police – RVNP (), Police Nationale de la République du Vietnam or Police Nationale for short ( – CSQG) in French,Tarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 37. was the official South Vietnamese national police force from 1962 to 1975, operating closely with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. __TOC__
History
The Republic of Vietnam National Police was officially created by President Ngô Đình Diệm's national decree in June 1962, integrating all the existing internal security and paramilitary agencies raised by the French Union authorities during the First Indochina War between 1946 and 1954, into a single National Police Force who answered to the Directorate General of National Police (Vietnamese: Tổng cục cảnh sát quốc gia – TCCSQG). These included the Vietnamese section of the indochinese Sûreté Générale secret police, the Saigon Municipal Police (, or Công an thành phố Sài Gòn in Vietnamese), elements of the colonial National Guard of South Vietnam ( – GNVS, or Vệ binh quốc gia Nam Việt Nam – VBNV in Vietnamese), a rural Gendarmerie force or 'Civil Guard' (, or Cảnh Sát Dân Sự – CSDS in Vietnamese), the Combat Police (, or Cảnh Sát Chiến Dấu – CSCD in Vietnamese) and various provincial militia forces made of irregular auxiliaries ().
Transferred to South Vietnamese control in 1955, all the aforementioned security units were integrated in the early 1960s into a new national police force with the exception of the Civil Guard, which was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Defence. The CSQG had an initial strength of only 16,000 uniformed and plainclothes agents, being essentially an urban constabulary with no rural Gendarmerie component to counter the threat posed by the increasing Viet Cong (VC) insurgency in the countryside.Sir Robert Thompson et al, Report on the Republic of Vietnam National Police (1971), p. 3.
The National Police under Diệm 1955–1963
Even before the official creation of the National Police, President Diệm was quick to employ the security forces inherited from the French in repressing both internal political dissent and organized crime. Throughout the late 1950s and into 1960, they helped the Vietnamese National Army (VNA) in suppressing the Hòa Hảo and Cao Đài militant religious and political sects, with approximately 25,000 armed militiamen, and the smaller but better organized Bình Xuyên Saigon-based gangster group.Rottman and Bujeiro, Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955-75 (2010), p. 8.
1964–1970
In February 1965 the new South Vietnamese government removed the popular and effective National Police chief, Colonel Ben, and replaced him with Colonel Pham Van Lieu, who was described by a US advisor as a man who "doesn't know the difference between a pair of handcuffs and a spittoon." Col. Lieu immediately removed numerous subordinates, seriously undermining the morale of the agency that was supposed to be leading the battle against the Viet Cong's subversive infrastructure.Birtle, Advice and Support: The Middle Years, January 1964–June 1965 (2024), p. 497.
By mid-1965 the force had met the American recommended goal of having three police officers for every 1,000 people, a rate higher than the 1.8 officers per 1,000 in the US.Birtle, Advice and Support: The Middle Years, January 1964–June 1965 (2024), p. 524.
The final years 1971–75
The CSQG strength peaked in February 1971 at 103,859 personnel – including 3,144 female agents, mostly engaged in clerical workSir Robert Thompson et al, Report on the Republic of Vietnam National Police (1971), p. 75. –, 4,450 vehicles and some 830 motorcycles of various types. However, out of this total only 27,565 officers and enlisted men were of career status, the remainder being on contract, daily paid or floating assimilated.Sir Robert Thompson et al, Report on the Republic of Vietnam National Police (1971), Appendix H, p. 3. Plans were drawn late that year to further expand the Police to 124,050 and later to 160,000, though the actual authorized strength in 1973 stood at about 130,000 men and women.
Structure The CSQG was organized at national level with logistical and administrative support from Saigon, but individual police departments were under the operational control of the provincial police chiefs. All components of the Police system were administered directly by the Directorate General of National Police (TCCSQG) at the National Police Headquarters in Saigon, which also provided technical or combat support for law-enforcement and other internal security duties throughout the Country. The Directorate General was headed by Sub-Brigadier general Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, who led a staff comprising a deputy director and six assistant directors for administration, personnel and training, intelligence, operations, Field Forces and scientific police. By the late 1960s, the Vietnamese National Police was organized into nine major specialized departments or 'branches', which were:
River and Coastal Police Traffic Control Police Judiciary Police Special Police Scientific Police Police Medical Service Administration Service VIP Protection Service Field Police
Training facilities
All instruction and management of training facilities fell upon the Personnel and Training Directorate (Vietnamese: Ban nhân sự và đào tạo) at National Police headquarters in Saigon. Recruits first underwent the basic 12-week course, which consisted primarily of weapons handling, tactics, Taekwondo and drill, ministered at the main National Police Elementary Training Centre (Vietnamese: Trung tâm huấn luyện so ca) located at Rach Dua, near Vũng Tàu. After finishing the course, the best-qualified students were selected to be sent for officer training to the National Police Academy (Vietnamese: Học viện cảnh sát quốc gia) at Thủ Đức near Saigon, where they attended advanced instruction programs at all levels, which comprised:
Officer promotion courses up to and including the rank of Lieutenant colonel Administrative and staff training Senior officer seminars Judicial Police training for officers and NCOs Instructors' courses at both officer and lower rank levels
Those recruits with lower qualifications went instead to the Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) School run by the ARVN at its Combat Training Centre (Vietnamese: Trung tâm huấn luyện chiến đấu) in Da Lat, co-located to the namesake South Vietnamese Armed Forces Military Academy, where they received special training that would enable them to graduate as Police NCOs.
Specialists such as field policemen, patrol boat crewmen, vehicle drivers (this category included squad car, armoured car and Jeep drivers, and motorcyclists), radio operators, medics, mechanics, and clerks were trained in various other National Police and Armed Forces' schools. More specialized training was also provided to selected male and female personnel assigned to the other CSQG branches. River and Coastal Police boat crews were trained at the Riverine Force Training Centre (Vietnamese: Trung tâm huấn luyện lực lượng sông nước) co-located at their Phú Xuân HQ, near Huế.Sir Robert Thompson et al, Report on the Republic of Vietnam National Police, (1971), Appendix H, p. 1. Field Police personnel – including officers and NCOs – underwent eight weeks' of training in paramilitary skills at the police training Centres of Malaysia and the Philippines. Instruction covered subjects such as jungle warfare, intelligence-gathering operations, law-enforcement and riot control techniques. To upgrade their capabilities, squads and platoons were returned periodically to these training centers for six weeks of unit refresher training, but for most CSDC companies and battalions posted in the provinces their refresher course actually took place in-country at the regional training centers.
Foreign assistance Additional military "on the job" training was provided to Field Police units in the field by U.S. Mobile Training Teamsde Lee, Guerrilla Warfare (1985), p. 56. or by Australian advisors from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV).Lyles, Vietnam ANZACs: Australian & New Zealand Troops in Vietnam (2004), p. 7. Selected officer students attended specialized courses at the International Police Academy in Washington, D.C. while other students were sent to the Malaysian Police Field Force Special Training Centre () at Kentonmen, Ulu Kinta, Perak in Malaysia to attend advanced specialized police and instructor's courses. After graduation, some of these new National Police officers upon returning to South Vietnam would them be posted as Field Police instructors at the Police training centers to pass on their skills to CSDC recruits.Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 27.
List of National Police Directors-General
Lại Văn Sang Mai Hữu Xuân Nguyễn Ngọc Lễ Nguyễn Văn Tôn Trần Vĩnh Ðắt Trần Bá Thành Nguyễn Chữ Nguyễn Văn Hay Trần Văn Tư Nguyễn Văn Là Nguyễn Ngọc Loan Phạm Xuân Chiểu Ðàm Trung Mộc Nguyễn Văn Y
List of National Police Commanders Trần Thanh Phong Nguyễn Khắc Bình
Weapons and equipment The CSQG was lightly armed by military standards, but heavily armed by conventional police standards. Initially, most of its weaponry was surplus French and U.S. World War II/Korean War-vintage. From 1969, rifles, carbines and submachine guns began to be replaced by assault rifles and although the latter became the CSQG's primary weapon, it never displaced entirely the earlier weaponry.Tarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 42. Police units had no crew-served weapon systems such as mortars or any other indirect fire weapons.
M1917 revolver Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver Smith & Wesson SW2 Bodyguard .38 Special snub-nose revolverTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 42. Colt Cobra .38 Special snub-nose revolverTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 42. Smith & Wesson Model 39 pistol Colt.45 M1911A1 automatic pistol M1 Garand battle rifleTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), pp. 42-43. M1/M2 carbineTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), pp. 42-43. M3/M3A1 "Grease Gun" submachine gunRussell and Chappell, Armies of the Vietnam War 2 (1983), p. 35, Plate G1.Tarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 42. IMI Uzi submachine gun M1A1 Thompson submachine gun M16A1 assault rifleTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), pp. 42-43. Ithaca model 37 pump-action shotgunKluever, Weapons Backdate – Trench Guns (1996), p. 13.Thompson, US Combat Shotguns (2013), p. 19. Stevens model 77E pump-action shotgunKluever, Weapons Backdate – Trench Guns (1996), p. 13.Thompson, US Combat Shotguns (2013), p. 20. M1918A2 BAR light machine gun M60 machine gun Browning M1919A4 .30 cal medium machine gun M79 grenade launcherTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 43.
Vehicles
Willys MB Jeep Willys M38 MC JeepLes véhicules de la Police Nationale Sud-Vietnam vietnamwar.forumactif.org. Willys M38A1 MD Jeep Dodge M37 utility truck Kaiser Jeep M715 utility truck M8 Greyhound Light armoured carTarrius, La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975 (2005), p. 39. V-100 Commando armoured personnel carrier/Internal security vehicleV-100 Commando internal security vehicle in Field Police service. 1960 Ford Falcon patrol carLes véhicules de la Police Nationale Sud-Vietnam vietnamwar.forumactif.org. Harley-Davidson 1957 XLB Sportster motorcycleLes véhicules de la Police Nationale Sud-Vietnam vietnamwar.forumactif.org.
Uniforms and insignia