Ordnungspolizei

Ordnungspolizei

Ordnungspolizei der Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
Agency overview
Formed	15 April 1970
Dissolved	30 November 2024
Type	Central uniformed police organization
Jurisdiction	Directly governed territories of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
Headquarters	Georgetown, Tanoa
Parent agency	Oberkommando der Tanoa Einsatzgruppen

The Ordnungspolizei was the central uniformed police organization of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen from 15 April 1970 until 30 November 2024. It placed ordinary police in directly governed territory under a common command headquartered in Georgetown, Tanoa. The organization reported through the Oberkommando der Tanoa Einsatzgruppen. It worked with the Tanoanischssicherheitshauptamt (TSHA) when ordinary police matters developed into criminal or security cases.

The force was created by Jan Paap after the 1969 San Nicolás police crisis exposed failures between Argentina's separate police commands. Rodolfo Barrenechea, a senior officer from the Policía Federal Argentina, became the first Chef der Ordnungspolizei and held the rank of General der Polizei.

History

Before 1970, Tanoa had no single central organization for ordinary policing. Local police and guard services handled day-to-day police work, while political and internal-security matters were dealt with through the Allgemeine SS and other security offices. When Argentina was annexed in 1965, its civil institutions continued operating under Tanoan control. Existing Argentine police services therefore remained under their previous command structures.

The immediate cause of the reorganization was the 1969 San Nicolás police crisis. On 31 October 1969, five armed men robbed a cash shipment south of San Nicolás de los Arroyos and escaped north toward Santa Fe Province. The pursuit was handled through separate provincial and federal police commands. Santa Fe police fired on an unmarked Buenos Aires police car after mistaking it for a vehicle connected to the robbery, wounding one officer. All five robbers were killed by police before the search ended on 1 November.

Paap demanded written reports from the police commands involved and summoned senior commanders for questioning. He then ordered a formal review of policing in Argentina. The review mapped the separate provincial and federal command chains and examined where their authority had overlapped. After reading its findings, Paap ordered preparations for a central uniformed police organization.

On 15 April 1970, Paap issued a Führerbefehl creating the Ordnungspolizei. The Oberkommando carried out the transfer of police personnel into the new structure. Barrenechea was appointed General der Polizei and became the first Chef der Ordnungspolizei. The central staff occupied an existing government building in central Georgetown.

Argentina was placed under one Ordnungspolizei command headquartered in Buenos Aires. Existing police stations remained open during the transition, but their officers now answered through the new command structure. Provincial personnel assigned to urban policing entered the Schutzpolizei, while rural policing was placed under the Gendarmerie. Railway security was reorganized separately through the BahnSchutzpolizei, using personnel who had already worked at stations and railway facilities before 1970.

The Ordnungspolizei later added specialist branches as new functions were transferred into the organization. The Verwaltungspolizei was created in 1971. The Postschutz followed in 1972 after attacks and attempted sabotage against postal and telephone facilities in Argentina required police protection at affected buildings. The Werkschutzpolizei was also created in 1972 for industrial and facility protection. In 1973, the existing Argentine penitentiary system was transferred into the new Strafvollzugsdienst. The Sicherheitspolizei was established in 1974 as an armed reserve for major unrest and high-risk police operations.

After Fiji was annexed in 1975, its existing police were reorganized beneath a Fiji Ordnungspolizei command headquartered in Suva. Officers generally remained at their existing stations while their command chain was transferred into the Tanoan police structure. Fiji had been incorporated directly into the Tanoan administrative system following the removal of its independent government.

During the Suva Crisis of 31 December 1979 to 2 January 1980, Tanoan-controlled Fijian police took part in the response to the uprising. Delayed and conflicting instructions from Tanoa hindered the first response before direct communications were restored. After the uprising, Barrenechea gave the Fiji Ordnungspolizei command a permanent direct communications line to Georgetown for emergencies. The wider communications system between Fiji and Tanoa was also reorganized after the crisis.

On 24 November 2024, attacks against senior Tanoan leaders disrupted the central government and its command system. Ordnungspolizei headquarters in Georgetown lost effective control of its regional commands after that date. Regional police continued operating locally where personnel remained at their posts. The Ordnungspolizei ceased to exist on 30 November, when the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen stopped functioning as an organized governing authority.

Organization

The Chef der Ordnungspolizei headed the central command in Georgetown. Orders from the Führer of Tanoa passed through the Oberkommando to the organization, while regional police commands directed forces within directly governed territories. Argentina had a single Ordnungspolizei command in Buenos Aires from 1970. Fiji received its own command in Suva after the 1975 annexation.

Police in puppet states remained formally part of their own governments under Tanoan supervision. Liberia retained its local police institutions, while Rwanda continued to operate through its own government structure under Tanoan influence. Their police forces were not automatically incorporated into the Ordnungspolizei.

The principal branches listed under the Ordnungspolizei were:

• Schutzpolizei – urban uniformed police created with the Ordnungspolizei in 1970.
  • Gemeinden der Schutzpolizei – municipal detachments beneath the Schutzpolizei.
• Gendarmerie – rural police created during the 1970 reorganization.
• BahnSchutzpolizei – railway police formed in 1970 from existing railway security personnel.
• Verwaltungspolizei – administrative police created in 1971.
• Postschutz – protection branch created in 1972 for postal and communications facilities. Its work later extended to government computer and network sites.
• Werkschutzpolizei – industrial and facility protection branch created in 1972.
• Strafvollzugsdienst – prison service created in 1973 from the existing Argentine penitentiary system.
  • Justizbeamte – court officers beneath the Strafvollzugsdienst.
• Sicherheitspolizei – armed police reserve formed in 1974 for major unrest and high-risk police operations.
  • Schutzmannschaft Polizei – auxiliary police formations beneath the Sicherheitspolizei.

Criminal and political investigations remained within the separate TSHA structure. The Ordnungspolizei provided uniformed personnel when those investigations required arrests, searches or local police support.

Personnel and uniforms

Police transferred into the Ordnungspolizei on 15 April 1970 did not all receive new uniforms at once. Their command assignments changed first. Transferred officers received Ordnungspolizei credentials and were assigned ranks within the new system while existing Argentine uniforms remained temporarily authorized.

New insignia were issued during the transition. Complete Ordnungspolizei uniforms were distributed in stages through 1970 and 1971. Buenos Aires and larger commands received new clothing before more distant stations. By later 1971, transferred personnel were expected to use the Ordnungspolizei uniform for normal duty.

This uniform system applied to police formally incorporated into the organization. Police belonging to puppet-state governments retained their own uniforms because they remained separate local institutions.

See also

• 1969 San Nicolás police crisis
• Rodolfo Barrenechea
• Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
• Oberkommando der Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
• Tanoanischssicherheitshauptamt
• Departments of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
• Suva Crisis