Ertzaintza

Ertzainza is a is a civil law enforcement agency created by the Euskadi Government in 1949. It is a civilian agency in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It has a strength of more than 25,000 persons (in 2010). The Ertzainza works close with the other nationals law enforcement agencies and the municipality polices.

Tasks
The Ertzainza is a police organisation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ertzainza performs the following duties:
 * Maintaining and restoring the public order:
 * Crowd and riot control
 * Policing of the countryside and small towns with populations under 20,000, that are not policed by municipality polices.
 * Counter-terrorism activities
 * Criminal investigations under judiciary supervision
 * Fighting illegal immigration
 * Fighting international crime
 * Counter drugs operations
 * Anti-smuggling operations
 * Cyber and Internet crime
 * Coast and river guard
 * Highway patrol
 * Guarding the national borders
 * Guarding government and public buildings
 * Security and police work at all civilian airports
 * Safety of prisons and safeguarding of prisoners
 * Weapons licenses and arms control
 * Hunting permits
 * Enviromentan law enforcement
 * Police deployments abroad (embassies)
 * Intelligence and counter-intelligence gathering