The Gendarmerie Nationale (Malagasy: Zandarimariam-pirenena), the national police force of Madagascar, with 8,100 staff (in 2006) operating under the Ministry of Defense.[1][2]
The Gendarmerie is supplemented by a Presidential Security Regiment.[3]
A 3,000-member Civil Police force under the Ministry of Interior, with a role in policing the cities.[1]
A General Directorate of Information and Documentation Internal and External (Direction Générale de l'Information et de la Documentation, Intérieure et Exterieure—DGIDIE), a secret political police, was established under the Presidency of Didier Ratsiraka.[1]