The origins of the Policía Federal Argentina (PFA) go back to when Buenos Aires was founded in 1580 by Juan de Garay and the first Alcaldes with police and judicial power were named. This system would more or less work until 1821 when Joaquín de Achaval was named Jefe de Policía, which can be considered as the real foundation of this force. The construction of the current building of the Policía Federal Argentina was started on August 11, 1884 when the architect Juan A. Bushiazzo signed the construction contract.
Today, this is a civilian institution charged with both internal security and judicial police functions depending from the Ministerio de Justicia, Seguridad y Derechos Humanos with all of the duties that the constitution gives to this federal force. These are mostly of conventional police work in the capital Buenos Aires and of internal security in the country as support to the local police forces, to which extent the Policía Federal Argentina maintains delegations in most provinces. The Buenos Aires Fire Department also belongs to this force and has a secondary riot control function. By 1995 this force had a strength of 22,000 personnel divided in six (6) Circunscripciones which in turn manage fifty (50) Comisarías.
Due to the current perceived security crisis in Argentina, the current government just announced a new budget increase for the internal security forces in general, and for the Policía Federal Argentina in particular, of $43.9M local currency, destined to be used in the purchase of new equipment, logistics and training.
The ORBAT for this force is not clear and here are presented the units or organizations that have been identified. Their administrative relationship is not clear and any information is welcome. The most famous unit is the Grupo Especial de Operaciones Federales (GEOF) which basically is in charge of the SWAT role for this force.