Imperial Security Bureau

"''"We're the Imperial Security Bureau. What we say is principle; what we decide is regulation; what we do is law." "And whoever you order shot is dead?" "So you do understand."''"

- and

The Imperial Security Bureau, also called Imperial Security, abbreviated ISB, was the primary state security and law enforcement organ of the Galactic Empire. Part of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (COMPNOR), the agency was a fierce rival of Imperial Intelligence, competing with each other for resources and favor in the Imperial government.

Imperial period
The ISB was formed in by, one of the founders of COMPNOR. Its forerunner, the, was combined with elements of the fanatical Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, formerly the , and the 's Anti-Terrorism Unit and detective units. Vandron formed the organization to keep an eye on Imperial Intelligence and to ensure that the New Order's ideals were carried out. Ironically, several of the CSF officers transferred to the ISB were not enthusiastic about Palpatine or the New Order.

Even though several key ISB members, such as Colonel, died aboard the first Death Star when it was destroyed over Yavin, the ISB continued to be a strong political faction within the Empire as evidenced by ISB Central Commander making a bid to replace Darth Vader at the Emperor's side shortly after  was finished. Such was his power that he commandeered Vader's old flagship, Devastator, to track down the important Imperial turncoat,.

Post-Endor
After the death of Palpatine at the Battle of Endor, the ISB along with other Imperial factions devolved into the Imperial Civil War. Specifically, the ISB and Imperial Intelligence initiated a campaign of assassinations against each other that annihilated much of both organizations' leadership. It was reformed by Emperor Vastir Tokrev, who rose to power in 9 ABY, in an attempt to restore it to its previous strength.

Commission of Operations
The Commission of Operations was responsible for passing on the directions of the Central Office directly to the Sector Officer for each of the various ISB branches. All coordination between the different branches within a sector, or between Bureau resources in separate sectors, was dictated by the Commission of Operations.

Surveillance
Surveillance was the largest branch of the ISB, with nearly 35 percent of all personnel in the Bureau. The quality of agents in Surveillance, however, was not always great. A good portion of Surveillance agents were candidates straight from the Sub-Adult Group, but these were poorly trained, albeit eager and promising. The rest were made up of properly trained CompForce Observers, agents from Progress's Sector Monitor, Improvement's Sector Development, and local contacts aiming to subvert other local powers.

Surveillance was tasked with uncovering beings or activities helpful to the Rebel Alliance or that may obstruct the Empire's plans. Many of Surveillance's targets were later turned over to Investigations for more thorough action. Surveillance was also responsible for instilling fear of the Empire into its citizens, so that they would think twice before assisting the Rebellion.

Investigations
Investigations was the skillfully superior branch of the Imperial Security Bureau, when compared to Surveillance. Many Department of Modification agents and proven agents from Surveillance made up Investigations. Agents of Investigations were always in direct communication with the Imperial military, allowing them to call on a massive amount of firepower and resources should the situation require it, so they could take down Rebel threats with considerably faster response time and effectiveness.

Internal Affairs
The Internal Affairs branch was the group responsible for watching COMPNOR, Imperial Personnel, and the citizens of the Empire, another example of multiple layers of control and authority overlapping one another in the Galactic Empire. Science, Commerce and Justice groups within the Coalition for Progress, and the Enforcements branch of the ISB, were all key targets of Internal Affairs.

It is unknown whether or not the Internal Affairs division had the authority to monitor the Select Committee, though it is known that they did not consider the Select Committee to be above suspicion.

Due to COMPNOR's ambiguity in regards to rules and procedures for policing its own members, Internal Affairs was able to take advantage of the situation to expand their power. Affairs agents were isolated from the rest of COMPNOR and had thus developed their own jargon and their own interpretation of the New Order. Other branches of COMPNOR complained about the autonomy of Internal Affairs and their actions, but neither Crueya Vandron nor Emperor Palpatine ever made attempts to stop it, as they apparently supported the work of Internal Affairs.

Interrogation
If a subject caught by Investigations was suspected of still hiding the information the ISB wanted to know, the subject was shipped off to the Interrogation branch. The information they uncovered was sent to Investigations. The subject, however, disappeared, and no one outside Interrogation was really willing to find out just what happened to them.

Re-education
When a member of COMPNOR was convicted of a crime by Internal Affairs, the subject was transferred to Re-Education. The subject was usually always returned to COMPNOR, although in a position of lower importance. It was reported that these individuals acted strangely when returned, their conversation disjointed, and their emotions out of phase with the situation. They were called "Graduated of Re-Education" or "Re-education" officially, but amongst other members of COMPNOR, it was said they were "Re-brained".

Enforcement
The Enforcement branch provided specialized muscle for the ISB. They occasionally operated for Internal Affairs, but most often they were working for Investigations. Enforcement was the only division within all of COMPNOR that hired beings who were not members of COMPNOR, which earned the suspicion of the Internal Affairs division, who were worried the use of unindoctrinated personnel was too risky.

Nevertheless, Enforcement was thus able to increase the amount of available talent, and perform operations the Select Committee would rather not be performed by COMPNOR members. In addition, Enforcement did its best to protect its operatives from unwarranted interferences from the Internal Affairs division, though a permanent tension existed between the two groups that no one could avoid.