Police organisation
Policía Federal Argentina
One of Argentina’s four national security forces under the Ministry of National Security, alongside provincial police forces it does not command.
At a glance
- Official name
- Policía Federal Argentina (PFA)
- System
- Argentina
- Level of government
- Federal
- Kind of body
- Federal police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
Argentina runs four federal security forces — the PFA, the Gendarmería Nacional, the Prefectura Naval and the Policía de Seguridad Aeroportuaria — all under the national Ministry of National Security. Each province additionally has its own police force under the reserved-powers rule, so the federal tier is one layer of a larger system rather than the whole of it.
What it covers
Federal, under the national Ministry of National Security. The provincial forces are separate.
Broad responsibilities
- Federal policing as one of the four national security forces
Who it answers to
Under the national Ministry of National Security (Ministerio de Seguridad Nacional).
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how Argentina is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- Gendarmería Nacional Argentina — Argentina
- Prefectura Naval Argentina — Argentina
- Policía de Seguridad Aeroportuaria — Argentina
Where this connects
Institutions: National police.
Sources
Argentina — the federal security forces (Ministry of National Security)
Government of Argentina (argentina.gob.ar) · Government publication · link verified 2026-07-27
The Government of Argentina's page on the federal security forces, read directly. Supports that the four national forces — the Argentine Federal Police (PFA), the National Gendarmerie (GNA), the Naval Prefecture (PNA) and the Airport Security Police (PSA) — sit under the national security ministry. Establishes the federal police tier (each of the provinces additionally has its own provincial police under the reserved-powers rule). CORRECTED on 2026-10-10: the ministry is the Ministerio de Seguridad Nacional (Ministry of National Security). It was the Ministerio de Seguridad when this record was written, and was renamed by Decree DNU 58/2025, published on 4 February 2025 (ar-dnu-58-2025); the page itself now shows the new name.
Ministerio de Justicia — Información Legislativa (argentina.gob.ar/normativa) · Legislation · 2025-02-04 · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the name of the national ministry responsible for Argentina’s federal security forces, and nothing else. The decree’s original text on the national legislation service, read directly: sanctioned 3 February 2025 and published in the Boletín Oficial on 4 February 2025 (number 35602). Supports art. 1, which substitutes art. 1 of the Ley de Ministerios 22.520 so that the list of ministries reads "De Seguridad Nacional"; art. 6, which substitutes art. 22 bis so that "Compete al MINISTERIO DE SEGURIDAD NACIONAL" assisting the President in matters of internal security, including "la dirección y coordinación de funciones y jurisdicciones de las Fuerzas Policiales y de Seguridad nacionales"; and art. 7, which transfers the former ministry’s commitments and provides that wherever existing rules refer to the Ministry of Security it "deberá considerarse sustituida por la expresión “MINISTERIO DE SEGURIDAD NACIONAL”". The decree names no individual force, and none is named from it. As an original text it does not establish later amendments to the Ley de Ministerios.