Guinea
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 455-457 |
Page 455
Official country name: Republic of Guinea
Capital: Conakry
Geographic description: In West Africa, bordering on Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau
Population: 9,467,866 (est. 2005)
Guinea was under French colonial rule until 1958. The French established a law enforcement force modeled on that of France. It had three major components: the Sûreté Nationale (national police), the Gendarmerie (rural police), and the Republican Guard. After independence, the new state adopted these institutions without change.
Internal security is one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of the Interior. Operational control of these forces rests with the General Directorate of Security Services (GDSS). It has six bureaus: Criminal Investigation, State Security, Economic Law Enforcement, Traffic Management, Public Safety, and Technical Services. The directorate is headed by a director assisted by a deputy.
As the governor of each administrative region is responsible for the maintenance of peace and order in his area, there is a dual responsibility for law enforcement. These responsibilities are not clearly demarcated, but the GDSS is concerned primarily with overall command and administration and control of security matters of national interest, whereas the local and regional administrations are concerned with the distribution of security forces in their areas and their deployment during local disturbances.
Sûreté Nationale is the designation given to the civil police forces in all towns and cities. The GDSS controls the recruitment, training, and administration of the force, but operational control is vested in the governors of the administrative regions to which it is assigned. Each governor has attached to his staff a chief of police. The Sûreté Nationale is subdivided into precincts or town quarter detachments and these, in turn, into police posts. It sometimes functions in a political capacity against the opposition. A special section is charged with monitoring the activities of foreigners in the country, including their entry and exit. Sûreté Nationale detachments work at seaports and airports and at border...
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