The former Yugoslav Federal Secretariat for Internal Affairs controlled a federal paramilitary force, the People's Militia, which numbered more than 15,000 troops. This force operated numerous BOV-M armored vehicles equipped with machine guns, water cannons, smoke and tear gas launchers for crowd control and riot situations, armored personnel carriers, and helicopters. These internal security troops were well paid, heavily indoctrinated, experienced, and reliable. They could be deployed in times of political unrest or disorder when the local police were expected to side with the populace against federal authorities. The People's Militia provided security for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The Contact Group, made up of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, has demanded the unconditional withdrawal of Serbian special police forces and Yugoslav Army forces from Kosovo. But Milosevic has not been prepared to meet these demands, since this would create conditions in which the KLA could easily take over Kosovo and proclaim independence.
As of mid-1998 several hundred policemen from the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs have refused to obey orders to go to Kosovo and enter the clashes with the Kosovo Liberation Army. Of these, some have resigned, and others have been suspended and disciplinary procedures started against them.The "special brigade" of the Bosnian Serb police is a special purpose military formation, which means it is prepared for both peace and war conditions. The unit consists of nine detachments [odred] deployed evenly throughout the state, from Prijedor to Trebinje. This Special Brigade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska [RS] is the "second echelon" of former Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic"s security, in addition to Karadzic's personal bodyguards. The brigade was founded in 1991 with special agents of the then-Bosnia-Herzegovina Police, and its first action was at Vraca. Its first commander was the current head of the Department of Public Security of the RS MUP, Milenko Karisik, but he was soon replaced by Goran Saric Sara, who remains in that position. Saric is regarded as one of the "legendary commanders" in the Republika Srpska, because his unit participated in most of the most important battles during the war. The unit was among the few units in the RS who did not bear the working title "drunk Chetniks." Unlike the majority of the detachments formed during the war, they were disciplined, and Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan said that only they could measure up to his Serb Volunteer Guard. In some of the fighting those two units acted together. As of late 1995 the majority of the units were still on the front lines in Krajina. The unit's school in the Interior Ministry and training centers instructors produce personnel for our units, except for active army service, where the training is normal and performed by interior ministry specialists and instructors. The new members of the special unit go through a short period of adjustment immediately followed by combat tasks. The brigade is equipped with state-of-the-art weapons, ranging from artillery pieces to night-vision technology.