Editing Special Branch

{{short description|Police intelligence units}}
{{for multi|the British police unit|Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|the British TV series|Special Branch (TV series)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = April 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}

'''Special Branch''' is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of [[national security]] and [[Intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] in [[Policing in the United Kingdom|British]], [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], Irish, and other police forces. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usually of a political or sensitive nature, and conducts investigations to protect the [[Sovereign state|State]] from perceived threats of [[subversion (politics)|subversion]], particularly terrorism and other extremist political activity.

The first Special Branch, or '''Special Irish Branch''', as it was then known, was a unit of London's [[Metropolitan Police]] formed in March 1883 to combat the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]. The name became [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] as the unit's remit widened to include more than just Irish Republican-related counterespionage.

==Australia==
Most state police forces and the federal police had a Special Branch. They were tasked mainly with monitoring the [[Communist Party of Australia]] and related political groups regarded as extremist or subversive.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} They also focused on German and Japanese activity during [[World War II]].
* The [[Commonwealth Police#Commonwealth Police Force|Commonwealth Police Force]] was formed in 1917 as "a form of federal special branch" under the ''[[War Precautions Act 1914]]''.<ref name="AFPHistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/162258/History_of_Australian_Federal_Police.pdf |title=A History of Australian Federal Police |publisher=Archives ACT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510082821/http://www.archives.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/162258/History_of_Australian_Federal_Police.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2013 }}</ref> It was disbanded in 1919.
* The [[Commonwealth Police#Commonwealth Police (1960–1979)|Commonwealth Police]] Special Branch was established in 1957.<ref name="AFPHistory"/> It was absorbed into the [[Australian Federal Police]] in 1979.
* The [[Australian Federal Police]] Special Branch was renamed the Special Intelligence Branch in 1985 and merged into the Security Intelligence & Diplomatic Liaison Branch in 1995.<ref name="AFPHistory"/>
* The [[New South Wales Police Force]] Subversive Organisations Branch was formed in 1933.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1223|title=Police Subversive Organisations Branch|publisher=State Records|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405142321/http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1223|archive-date=5 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was combined with the [[Commonwealth Police]], [[Royal Australian Navy]] Police and [[Australian Army]] Police at the outbreak of World War II to form the Military/Police Intelligence Branch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1222|title=Military/Police Intelligence Branch|publisher=State Records|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405080318/http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1222|archive-date=5 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The civilian component was formed back into the Police Subversive Organisations Branch in 1946, which was renamed Special Branch in 1948. The [[Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service]] found Special Branch was gathering information on people who posed no threat of politically motivated violence, and as a result it was disbanded in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1224|title=New South Wales Police Special Branch|publisher=State Records|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405083344/http://api.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/1224|archive-date=5 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* The [[Queensland Police Service|Queensland Police]] Special Bureau was formed on 30 July 1940 and renamed Special Branch on 7 April 1948. It has been criticised for being used for political purposes by the [[Joh Bjelke-Petersen|Bjelke-Petersen]] government in the 1970s and 1980s, such as enforcing laws against protests (sometimes outnumbering the protesters or using [[Agent provocateur|provocateurs]] to incite violence so the protesters could be arrested<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.couriermail.com/news/the-making-of-civil-liberties/story-e6freow6-1111114629112|title=The making of civil liberties|newspaper=Courier-Mail|date=13 October 2007}}</ref>) and investigating and harassing political opponents.<ref name="BT2010">{{cite news|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/inside-queenslands-spy-unit-20100406-rpbg.html|title=Inside Queensland's spy unit|newspaper=Brisbane Times|date=7 April 2010}}</ref> It was disbanded in 1989 following a recommendation by the [[Fitzgerald Inquiry]] into [[police corruption]].<ref name="BT2010"/> The Special Branch destroyed its records before Fitzgerald could [[subpoena]] them.<ref name="BT2010"/>
* [[South Australia Police]] formed an Intelligence Branch at the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939, which was disbanded in 1945. A Subversive Section was established in 1947 and renamed Special Branch in 1949. It amassed files on [[Australian Labor Party]] politicians, church leaders, trade unionists and so-called "pink files" on gay community activists at a time when homosexuality was still illegal.<ref name="SSO161105">{{cite news |last=Gould |first=Ian|title=A Feast of diversity|work=Sydney Star Observer|url=http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/australia-news/new-south-wales-news/2008/04/20/a-feast-of-diversity/10385|date=16 November 2005 |access-date=19 September 2009}}</ref> The South Australia Police was deliberately vague about the existence of Special Branch. In 1970, Commissioner Harold Salisbury told Premier [[Don Dunstan]] that Special Branch did not exist. A 1977 inquiry by Justice White of the [[Supreme Court of South Australia]] confirmed the existence and found the files were "scandalously inaccurate, irrelevant to security purposes and outrageously unfair to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of loyal and worthy citizens".<ref>{{cite book |author=Cunningham, Andrew |chapter=Industrial Relations |pages=163–178 |title=The Dunstan decade : social democracy at the state level |editor1=Parkin, Andrew |editor2=Patience, Allan |location=Melbourne |publisher=Longman Cheshire |year=1981|isbn=978-0-582-71466-3}}</ref> Dunstan sacked Salisbury for misleading Parliament about the existence of the "pink files".<ref name="Baird2001">{{cite journal | author = Baird, Barbara | title = The Death of a Great Australian | journal = Journal of Australian Studies | volume = 25 | issue = 71 | year = 2001 |pages=73–86 | doi = 10.1080/14443050109387722 | s2cid = 141435368 }}</ref> Special Branch was disbanded in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/previous%20series/lcj/1-20/wayward/ch7t.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127012858/http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/previous%20series/lcj/1-20/wayward/ch7t.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-11-27|title=Political surveillance and the South Australian Police|publisher=Australian Institute of Criminology}}</ref>
* The [[Victoria Police]] Special Branch was formed in 1931 and disbanded in 1983.<ref name="Age2008">{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/infiltrating-community-groups-has-a-long-history-20081015-51k2.html|title=Infiltrating community groups has a long history|newspaper=The Age|date=16 October 2008}}</ref> Similar work in monitoring terrorism is conducted by the Security Intelligence Group, established in 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/changes-to-antiterror-squad-will-make-victorians-safer-20110519-1euud.html|title=Changes to anti-terror squad will make Victorians safer|newspaper=The Age|date=20 May 2011}}</ref>

==Bahamas==
[[File:RBPF crest.jpg|thumb|Crest of the [[Royal Bahamas Police Force]]]]
The '''Security and Intelligence Branch''', also known as Special Branch, is the main domestic [[Intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] and [[Security agency|security service]] in the [[Commonwealth of the Bahamas]]. It is mandated to perform intelligence operations inside the [[The Bahamas|Bahamas]] to ensure the safety of [[Bahamian people|Bahamian]] [[citizens]] and foreigners. The branch is also mandated to perform [[background check]]s on persons who have been recruited for jobs such as police officers and [[Royal Bahamas Defence Force|defence]] force officers and to check persons up for promotions.<ref name="SBref8">{{cite web|url=http://www.jonesbahamas.com/news/45/ARTICLE/22449/2011-02-02.html |title=Judge To Decide on Prosecutor's Trial By Month's End |access-date=2 March 2011 |first=Sasha L. |last=Lightbourne |date=2 February 2011 |publisher=Jones Bahamas |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713115803/http://www.jonesbahamas.com/news/45/ARTICLE/22449/2011-02-02.html |archive-date=13 July 2011 }}</ref> The Director of the Security Intelligence Branch holds the rank of Chief Superintendent.

==Bangladesh==
{{main|Special Branch (Bangladesh)}}

The Bangladeshi Special Branch is an intelligence agency of [[Bangladesh Police]].  The Special Branch has twelve different sections through which it carries out the directives of the Government and around 64 district based offices, called District Special Branch and also has offices in many Upazila/Thana areas. All the members are recruited from the [[Bangladesh Police]]. The chief of the Special Branch has the rank of Additional Inspector General (Addl IGP) and reports directly to the [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh]].

==Belize==
It is responsible for the internal affairs of the country and collecting intelligence on behalf of the security services.

==Brunei==
{{main|Internal Security Department (Brunei)}}
The ISD was created to replace the Royal Brunei Police's Special Branch division, which was disbanded on August 1, 1993.

==Canada==
The [[RCMP Security Service]] was a counterintelligence unit or "Special Branch" from 1950 to 1984. It was replaced by the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]].

==Fiji==
The Special Branch unit of the [[Law enforcement in Fiji|Fiji Police Force]] is classed as one of the best intelligence units in the Asia Pacific region. Similar to their Commonwealth counterparts, the Fijian Special Branch deals with matters of national security. They facilitate Interpol, counter terrorism, surveillance, anti-espionage and VIP protection units. Entry into Special Branch is usually by recruitment. Even though it is a police unit, Special Branch also recruits from the [[Republic of Fiji Military Forces]].

The unit's name was changed to the Fiji Police Intelligence Bureau in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026204044/http://www.connectme.com.fj/news/featured/Special-branch-undergoes-name-change|url=http://www.connectme.com.fj/news/featured/Special-branch-undergoes-name-change|title=Special branch undergoes name change|access-date=14 August 2011|archive-date=26 October 2009|publisher=Connect Me}}</ref> According to the Fijian government, this was done due to the "impact of modern crimes with other unlawful and illegal activities in national development demands dramatic changes in the Force."<ref name="Fiji">{{cite web|url=http://www.fiji.gov.fj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:220909-cabinet-approves-name-change-for-special-branch&catid=49:cabinet-releases&Itemid=166 |title=22/09/09 – Cabinet approves name change for special branch |access-date=14 August 2011 |publisher=Fijian government |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317002855/http://www.fiji.gov.fj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170%3A220909-cabinet-approves-name-change-for-special-branch&catid=49%3Acabinet-releases&Itemid=166 |archive-date=17 March 2012 }}</ref> This was also done while the police force was being modernised.<ref name="Fiji"/>

==Hong Kong==
{{main|Special Branch (Hong Kong)}}
In the face of a perceived direct Communist threat to Hong Kong, an Anti-Communist Squad was established in the Criminal Investigation Department of the then [[Royal Hong Kong Police Force|Hong Kong Police]] by 1930.  It was named the ''Political Department'' in Chinese (政治部). In 1933, the squad's English name became "Special Branch" while its Chinese name remained unchanged.<ref name="HKLJ">{{cite journal|journal=Hong Kong Law Journal|volume=33|last1=Fu|first1=H L|last2=Cullen|first2=R|title=Political Policing in Hong Kong|date=2003|hdl=10722/75000}}</ref>{{rp|203}}  In addition to anti-subversion operations, its role during its first two decades also included immigration, passport control and registration of persons.<ref name="HKLJ"/>{{rp|204}}

The division was disbanded in 1995, prior to the [[transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong]] in 1997.<ref name="HKSB">{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602202202/http://www.scmp.com/article/998947/kmt-spies-infiltrated-colonial-police|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/998947/kmt-spies-infiltrated-colonial-police|title=KMT spies infiltrated colonial police|last=Seawright|first=Stephen|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-date=2 June 2014|newspaper=South China Morning Post|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Units of SB were reassigned under the Security Wing (Department B) – Crime and Security.<ref>{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602203738/http://www.scmp.com/article/119636/fbi-style-security-squad-start|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/119636/fbi-style-security-squad-start|title=FBI-style security squad to start up|last=Goodsir|first=Darren|date=1 June 1995|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-date=2 June 2014|newspaper=South China Morning Post|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==India==
The Special Branch is a separate wing in the [[state police]] agencies in India. Like their counterparts in the United Kingdom, they deal with matters of state security. However, more serious espionage detection is the responsibility of the [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] (IB), India's federal internal security agency. The nomenclature varies from state to state, such as ''State Special Branch'' (SSB), ''Special Branch CID'' (SB-CID), ''State Intelligence Department'' (SID),etc.

The Special Branch functions at the state level and is headed by a senior-ranked officer, the [[Additional director general of police|Additional Director General of Police]] (ADGP). The State Special Branch is responsible for collecting, assessing, and collating significant intelligence and communicating it to the government through periodic and special reports. The special branch functions as an intelligence agency and as the eyes and ears of the respective state governments. The special branch consists of several units such as Intelligence, Security, Internal Security, and sub-units like the extremist cell, digital surveillance unit, organized crime cell, VVIP security, bomb detection disposal squad, foreigners cell, passport verification, etc." 

There have been many allegations that the Special Branch is used by the ruling government for setting up surveillance on their political opponents. The Special Branch has its own Detective [[Constable]]s, Head Constables, [[Inspector]] rankings and superior police officer rankings. Every police station is to have a Special Branch head constable or Assistant [[Sub-Inspector]] (ASI) (working plain clothes or ''[[Mufti (dress)|Mufti]]''), he would be observing the society in general, and also taking reports from the uniformed police constables on general patrol. The special branch staff play a very important role in collecting advance intelligence about law and order matters as well as illegal activities like [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] plantation/transportation, illicit attacks, etc. They forward the information to the respective [[Superintendent of police (India)|Superintendents of police]] for necessary action.

==Ireland==
{{details|Special Detective Unit}}
In Ireland, the 'Special Branch' is known officially as the [[Special Detective Unit]] (SDU). The [[Counter-terrorism|counter-terrorist]] and [[counterintelligence]] unit operates under the auspices of the [[Garda Crime & Security Branch|Crime & Security Branch (CSB)]] of the ''[[Garda Síochána]]'' (Irish National Police). The SDU is responsible for the investigation of threats to state security and the monitoring of persons and groups who pose a threat on both national and international fronts. The SDU works closely with other special units within the ''Garda Síochána'', such as the [[Garda National Surveillance Unit|National Surveillance Unit]] (NSU) and [[Garda Emergency Response Unit|Emergency Response Unit]] (ERU), and Ireland's national and military [[intelligence agency]] – the [[Directorate of Military Intelligence (Ireland)|Defence Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence]]. The Special Detective Unit has a close working relationship with similar units in other western countries, particularly the United Kingdom, who share information to target, detect and disrupt the activities of terrorists.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Crime & Security Branch (CSB) / Special Detective Unit (SDU)|url=http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=40|work=1 January 2014|publisher=An Garda Síochána (Irish National Police)|access-date=6 February 2014}}</ref>

==Kenya==
{{main|National Intelligence Service (Kenya)}}

==Malaysia==
{{details|Malaysian Special Branch}}

The [[Malaysian Special Branch]] is an intelligence agency attached to the [[Royal Malaysian Police]] (RMP). The SB is empowered to acquire and develop intelligence on internal and external threats to the nation, subversive activities, extremist activities and activities of sabotage and spying. It is also empowered to analyse and advise on the necessary course of action to the various departments and agencies both within the Police Department and other related agencies.

==Myanmar==

The Special Branch under the control of the Myanmar Police Force is also known as the Special Intelligence Department.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/12757-police-receive-orders-to-reform-national-intelligence-bureau.html | title=Police receive orders to reform National Intelligence Bureau| date=9 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Rhys|date=2020-01-02|title=Securing the colony: the Burma Police Special Branch (1896 – 1942)|journal=Intelligence and National Security|volume=35|issue=1|pages=35–53|doi=10.1080/02684527.2019.1664517|s2cid=203524218|issn=0268-4527}}</ref>

==New Zealand==
The [[New Zealand Police]] Special Branch was formally created on 29 December 1949. At the time, the-then [[Police Commissioner]] Jim Cummings decided that the section of the Police Force dealing with subversive organisations would be designated the Special Branch, following a recent precedent established by a conference of Police Commissioners in Melbourne in November 1949. Its functions included dealing with subversive organisations and vetting public servants. Known targets of the Special Branch included the [[Communist Party of New Zealand]], the [[Waterside Workers' Union]], and the left-wing New Zealand diplomat and alleged [[KGB]] spy [[Desmond Patrick Costello]] and the civil servant and intellectual [[Bill Sutch]]. In November 1956, the Special Branch's functions were transferred to the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service#History|New Zealand Security Service]], which was later renamed the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hunt|first1=Graeme|title=Spies and Revolutionaries: A History of New Zealand Subversion|date=2007|publisher=Reed Publishing|location=Auckland|pages=162–63, 191–94, 229–31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzsis.govt.nz/Archives/ |title=New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Archives |publisher=New Zealand Security Intelligence Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205084214/http://nzsis.govt.nz/Archives/ |archive-date=5 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzsis.govt.nz/archives/records/l|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141120011929/http://www.nzsis.govt.nz/archives/records/l|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-11-20|title=Records held by the NZSIS|publisher=New Zealand Security Intelligence Service}}</ref>

== Pakistan ==
{{main| Special Branch (Pakistan)}}
The Special Branch is an intelligence unit of the [[Police Service of Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-24 |title=Special Branch to check police performance |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2392733/special-branch-to-check-police-performance?amp=1 |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=The Express Tribune}}</ref>

==Papua New Guinea==
Special Branch sections of the New Guinea Police Force and Royal Papuan Constabulary, in Australia-controlled [[Territory of Papua]] and [[Territory of New Guinea]], were established in 1947.<ref>{{cite book|first=August Ibrum K.|last=Kituai|title=My Gun, My Brother: The World of the Papua New Guinea Colonial Police, 1920–1960|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1998|page=99}}</ref> These were merged into the [[Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary]] in 1950.

== Rhodesia ==
The [[British South Africa Police]] (BSAP) developed its Special Branch in the early 1950s amid growing political unrest in the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]]. It remained active following the dissolution of the federation and was instrumental in creating the [[Selous Scouts]] during the [[Rhodesian Bush War]].<ref>Flower, K. (1987) ''Serving Secretly. An Intelligence Chief on Record: Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964 to 1981'', (London: John Hammond); Parker, J. (2006) ''Assignment Selous Scouts: Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer'', (Alberton: Galago).</ref> Following formal recognition of [[Zimbabwe]]an independence in 1980, the Special Branch was succeeded in part by the [[Central Intelligence Organisation]] and later, the Police Internal Security and Intelligence division (PISI).

==Singapore==
{{further|Internal Security Department (Singapore)|}}

The Internal Security Department of Singapore was initially established as the Criminal Intelligence Department in 1918 after the [[1915 Singapore Mutiny|Sepoy Mutiny]] of 1915. In 1933, the CID was renamed as Special Branch.<ref name="MHAH3">{{cite web |title=A Cause Greater Than Our Self |url=https://www.mha.gov.sg/isd/a-cause-greater-than-our-self |website=Ministry of Home Affairs}}</ref>

In 1939, it was restructured into the [[Malayan Security Service]] (MSS) which was not yet fully operational by the time of the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The MSS was disrupted by the Japanese invasion and subsequent [[Japanese occupation of Singapore|occupation of Singapore]] and [[Japanese occupation of Malaya|Malaya]]. It was disbanded in 1948 and two secret branches, one in Singapore and the other in Malaysia, were created.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keeping Singapore Safe: The Story of the Internal Security Department - RSIS |url=https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/nssp/keeping-singapore-safe-the-story-of-the-internal-security-department/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.rsis.edu.sg |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Singapore Special Branch (SSB) was first established on 23 August 1948 by the British colonial government, after the [[Malayan Communist Party|Communist Party of Malaya]] (CPM) launched an armed uprising to establish a communist state.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=katherine_chen |date=2023-10-27 |title=PMO {{!}} PM Lee Hsien Loong at the ISD 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner |url=https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/PM-Lee-Hsien-Loong-at-the-ISD-75th-Anniversary-Gala-Dinner-Oct-2023 |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Prime Minister's Office Singapore |language=en}}</ref> It was structured under the [[Singapore Police Force]] and headed by a Deputy Commissioner.

After Singapore achieved independence, the SSB was renamed as the Internal Security Department and became a separate agency on 17 February 1966, together with its foreign counterpart, the [[Security and Intelligence Division]] (SID). Both agencies operated under the former [[Ministry of Interior and Defence]] until 11 August 1970, when the ministry was split into the [[Ministry of Defence (Singapore)|Ministry of Defence]] (MINDEF) and MHA with SID and ISD falling under them respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SPEECH BY MR LEE HSIEN LOONG,PRIME MINISTER, AT THE INTERNAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT 60TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER, 30 AUGUST 2008, 8.15 PM AT THE ISTANA |url=https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/20080830992.htm |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.nas.gov.sg}}</ref>

==South Africa==
{{Main|Security Branch (South Africa)}}
During [[Apartheid]], the [[South African Police]]'s Security Branch, also known as the Special Branch<ref name="oMalleySecurityBranch">{{Cite web | url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv03445/04lv03446/05lv03497.htm | title=Security Branch - the O'Malley Archives}}</ref> was a police unit often used to attack anti-[[Apartheid]] groups using techniques and tactics including such as conducting surveillance, infiltrating meetings, recruiting informers, and obtaining documents and leaflets. They have also been linked to torture, extralegal detention, and [[forced disappearance]]s and assassinations against anti-Apartheid activists in the ANC and SACP. They first gained this role in the 1960s, under the regime of Justice Minister "B.J." Vorster, who convened the Special Branch to target these groups. Controversially, they have also been linked to the bombing of anti-apartheid groups COSATU and SACC during the South African Truth & Reconciliation Committees.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/27/uk.freedomofinformation |title=Documents show how Special Branch infiltrated Anti-Apartheid Movement |access-date=2016-07-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826010536/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/27/uk.freedomofinformation |archive-date=26 August 2016 |df=dmy |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2005-09-26 |last1=Evans |first1=Rob }}</ref> It is now the Crime Intelligence Unit which investigates crime but which continues to investigate groups perceived to be [[enemy of the state|enemies of the state]] such as social movements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/special-branch |title=The 'special branch' |access-date=2016-07-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820104952/http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/special-branch |archive-date=20 August 2016 |df=dmy |date=2012-01-13 }}</ref>

==Sri Lanka==
The Special Branch of Ceylon (now [[Sri Lanka]]) was created in late 1966 tasked with [[national security]] as an intelligence agency attached to [[Sri Lanka Police Service|Ceylon Police Force]]. This was closed down in 1970.

==Thailand==
{{main|Special Branch Bureau}}

==United Kingdom==
The first [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] in the world was that of the [[Metropolitan Police]], formed in London in 1883, with each [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|British police force]] going on to form its own Special Branch. In Northern Ireland, the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (1922–2001) had the [[RUC Special Branch]]. Many of those in county and city police forces have since been merged or converted into inter-force regional counter terrorism units and organised crime units.<ref>[http://www.serocu.org.uk/about.aspx About Us] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015234901/http://www.serocu.org.uk/about.aspx |date=15 October 2016 }}, South East Regional Organised Crime Unit. Retrieved 5 February 2016.</ref><ref>[http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crprev-ct South East Counter Terrorism Unit] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701162122/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crprev-ct |date=1 July 2016 }}, Thames Valley Police. Retrieved 5 February 2016.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Forward intelligence team]]
*[[Special Investigation Branch]] (military police, the equivalent of the [[Criminal Investigation Department|CID]])

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Allason, Rupert (1983). ''The Branch: History of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch''. London: Secker & Warburg. {{ISBN|0-436-01165-4}}.
* Flower, Ken (1987). ''Serving Secretly: An Intelligence Chief on Record: Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964 to 1981''. London: John Hammond. {{ISBN|0-7195-4438-6}}.
* Parker, Jim (2006). ''Assignment Selous Scouts: Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer''. Alberton, South Africa: Galago. {{ISBN|1-919854-14-2}}.
* Wilson, Ray and Adams, Ian (2015). "Special Branch: a History 1883 - 2006". Biteback Publishing. {{ISBN|9781849549103}}

==External links==
* [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/sbwuk.pdf Scottish Executive – Guidelines on Special Branch Work in the United Kingdom]

{{Specialist units of the United Kingdom police}}

[[Category:Hong Kong Police Force]]
[[Category:Law enforcement agencies of Brunei]]
[[Category:Types of police unit of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1883 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Protective security units]]
[[Category:Law enforcement in South Africa]]