Ministry of Public Security (Vietnam)

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS, Bộ Công an (BCA)) is a public agency directly under the Government of Vietnam, performing the function of state management of security, order and social safety; counterintelligence; crime prevention investigation; fire prevention and rescue; execution of criminal judgments, judgment enforcement not subject to imprisonment, custody or temporary detention; legal protection and support; State management of public services in sectors and fields under the Ministry's state management.

The Ministry of Public Security is the agency that manages the Vietnam People's Public Security.

Col. Gen Lương Tam Quang is the current head of the Vietnamese MPS.

History
The foundation of the MPS started on August 19, 1945 when the Indochinese Communist Party formed three departments, consisting of the Security Service Bureau in Northern Vietnam, the Surveillance Service in central Vietnam and the National Self-Defense Force Bureau in southern Vietnam. The three departments provided protection for Ho Chi Minh and other CPV leaders in time for September 2, 1945 when independence was declared for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. On February 21, 1945, Ho Chi Minh signed Decree 23, which unified the three bureaus into the Vietnam People’s Police Department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Le Gian served as the first head of the MIA.

The Sub-Ministry of Public Security was established in February 1953 when it was under North Vietnamese control after Ho Chi Minh signed Decree 141/SL. At the time of establishment, it formally had seven departments and divisions. After the Government Council was presided from August 27 to 29 of 1953, the Sub-Ministry was updated to the Ministry of Public Security.

In 1957, it first made official connections to the Stasi, the secret police of the German Democratic Republic. From 1972, Stasi head Erich Mielke provided technical assistance to the MPS in improving its intelligence and surveillance state operations throughout Vietnam, particularly after selected MPS personnel were sent to East Germany for further training.

On 12 June 1981, Decree 250/CP was signed, which defined the mandate of the Ministry of Interior. The Interior Minister then signed Decision 12-QD/BNV to prescribe the powers of the General Department of Police (GDP) with 12 subordinate units.

The Ministry of Public Security received many titles such as Hero of the People's Armed Forces 13 times, Gold Star Order (Vietnam) and 88 Ho Chi Minh Orders.

Controversies
Following the Fall of Saigon, the MPS imprisoned at least 200,000 to 300,000 former South Vietnamese military officers, government employees, and supporters of the former government of South Vietnam in re-education camps, where both physical torture and mental abuse were common. The MPS has also played a role in the surveillance and persecution of dissident poets, writers, and political prisoners, and in the ongoing efforts to repress the Vietnamese democracy movement, especially since the 2006 foundation of Bloc 8406. For example, lawyer and labor union activist Trần Quốc Hiền was sentenced in 2007 to five years imprisonment for "endangering state security", membership in Bloc 8406, and writing online articles titled, "The Tail", which critically described life under MPS surveillance.

Structure
The MPS is structured according to the following as of 2018:
 * Office of the Ministry of Public Security (V01)
 * Department of Foreign Affairs (V02)
 * Department of Legal Affairs and Judicial Reform (V03)
 * Department of Science, Strategy and History of the Public Security (V04)
 * Department of Construction of the all-people movement to protect national security (V05)
 * Department of Professional Records (V06)
 * Inspector of the Ministry of Public Security (X05)
 * Office of the Police Investigation Agency (C01)
 * Criminal Police Department (C02)
 * The Police Department investigates crimes related to corruption, economy, and smuggling (C03)
 * Police Department investigating drug crimes (C04)
 * Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department (C05)
 * Police Department for administrative management of social order (C06)
 * Police Department of Fire Prevention and Rescue (C07)
 * Traffic Police Department (C08)
 * The Police Department manages prisons, compulsory education institutions, reform school (C10)
 * The Police Department manages custody, temporary detention and criminal judgment execution in the community (C11)
 * Department of Planning and Finance (H01)
 * Department of Equipment and Logistics (H03)
 * Department of Construction Management and Barracks (H02)
 * Department of Telecommunications and Cipher (H04)
 * Information Technology Department (H05)
 * Department of Health (H06)
 * Logistics Department (H07)
 * Security Industry Bureau (H08)
 * Security Command (K01)- (It is equivalent to the Department level with the task of protecting key people and state-level officials)
 * Mobile Police Command (K02)- (it is equivalent to Department level)
 * Vietnam Technical - Logistics Peop
 * Institute of Science and Technology (H09)
 * Hospital August,19
 * Hospital April, 30
 * Hospital One Nine Nine - 199
 * Traditional Medicine Hospital