Security agencies and services…
They naturally appear in mystery and thriller stories, and mine are no exception. Some are evil—China and Russia’s come to mind—and some aren’t supposed to be but can be warped. Many have appeared in some my novels–the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Democracies should want their security agencies to be beyond reproach and just do the necessary work to keep the countries safe. Most of them do, of course, but there are bad apples in any barrel. “Bending the rules” to get a positive result might be a good policy once and a while, but doing that against the greater good is always questionable.
While I feature mostly UK and US agencies in my novels, I realize that the complete acronymic zoo can be confusing to readers. To help remedy that problem, I define these agencies and their acronyms at the beginning of some of my novels. You might also find the following list helpful in your other reading as well:
British national police—the Metropolitan Police System (“the Met” aka “Scotland Yard”) and its regional affiliates
British national crime agency—National Crime Agency (NCA)
British internal security—MI5
British external security—MI6
Chinese security—Ministry of State Security (MSS)
French internal security—DGSI
French external security—DGSE
Irish Republic’s national police—An Garda Siochana (Gardai or “the Guards”)
Russian internal security—FSB
Russian external security—SVR
US internal security—ATF, DEA, DHS, FBI
US external security—CIA, sometimes FBI
Notes:
The Metropolitan Police System, also called “the Met” or “the Yard” (for Scotland Yard, which is often used for both the Met and the independent but closely related City of London Police), and their regional affiliates represent the general policing organization for England and Wales; it covers general crime throughout that region with its many police districts, but it also covers background checks and crimes associated with the Official Secrets Act and railroad terminals and some local airports. Individual cities’ police departments are now considered part of the overall system (e.g., Bristol or Reading PD).
Police Scotland was created in 2013 to unify policing in all of Scotland, and it’s basically a copy of the Metropolitan Police system with all its own divisions and bureaucracy.
MI5 and MI6 were created during World War II. (The MI stands for “Military Intelligence,” and “Section Five” and “Section Six” are now just reduced to the numbers in general parlance.)
The National Crime Agency was also created in 2013 to lead efforts against organized crime, including human-, sex-, and drugs-trafficking.
One can equate MI5 + NCA to the FBI. ATF, DEA, and DHS, which are relatively recent in the US.
DGS is short for Departement Generale de Securite, and the I and E mean interior and exterior, respectively (these are the successors to the Surete).
FSB and SVR are the remnants of the old KGB, Putin’s old employer.
Of course, when in doubt, just use Google to check what an author means (or see if he got it right!).
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The “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series. This nine-novel series might even have a few more security agencies and services not listed here because some novels are quite international in scope, including the first, Rembrandt’s Angel. Esther’s long career is portrayed in this series, from her work as an MI6 spy in East Berlin to various adventures after retiring from Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques division. Two novels, Defanging the Red Dragon and Intolerance, are free (see the list on the “Free Stuff & Contests” web page). The others are available as ebooks, and the first three also have print versions. Enjoy!
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
