The Civil Guard (Spanish: Guardia Civil; [ˈɡwaɾðja siˈβil]) was the main preventive police force of Peru until its dissolution in 1988. As a national gendarmerie force, it was responsible for civil policing under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, while investigative work was carried out by the Peruvian Investigative Police. It was also supported at times by the Republican Guard. During its dissolution process, it became known as the General Police (Spanish: Policía General) until its formal integration into the National Police of Peru in 1991. The corps is colloquially known as the benemérita (reputable).

It was modelled after the Spanish Civil Guard, which assisted in its formation.

The origins of the Civil Guard date back to 1873, when President Manuel Pardo approved and signed two Supreme Decrees on December 31 of 1873 (published in El Peruano, the Peruvian Government's official newspaper, on January 28, 1874) and March 23, 1874, respectively, providing for its creation.

It also refers to "urban and rural stations and of the Regular Police Force divided into Gendarmerie and the Civil Guards, respectively", thus the decrees formally marked the birth of the service. That same year, Congress reported that Civil Guards units would commence their duties in every part of the nation. On November 9, 1874, President Manuel Pardo opened the Civil Guard Instruction School, whose first cadets made up a 50-men company within the Lima Infantry Gendarmerie Battalion.

The Civil Guard was reorganized several times, with its first time being in 1919, under Augusto B. Leguía's administration. The purpose of the reorganization was to reinvent its public image and to modernize the unit, modelling it after its Spanish counterpart. A Spanish mission approved by King Alfonso XIII was sent to Lima with the purpose of providing full assistance in the modernization and reorganization of the police forces, working with veterans of the old Civil Guard and the remainder of what was then the National Gendarmerie. The Spanish mission was chaired by then Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Pueyo of the Spanish Civil Guard, accompanied by C.G. Captain Bernardo Sanchez Visaires and C.G. Lieutenant Adolfo Parreño Carretero, who due to illness had to return to Spain, being replaced by Lieutenant Fernando Gomez Ayau and SFC Mr José Gómez Hernández.

After arriving and having been received by the President, the mission started organizing the reform of the police forces, delivering within a month of their arrival, the documentation on January 21, 1922, having presented to President Leguía and the Minister for Police 14 bills that comprised the complete plan of reorganization of the state security forces were by then a topic of discussion in the National Congress. This study was approved no less than the President himself, who considered the plan proposed in the 14 projects mentioned, in order for the development of the national economy and to improve the security situation. As a result:

A Civil Guard instruction school was opened in 1922, also organized under the tutelage of the Spanish mission. During its inauguration ceremony, the Peruvian cry of "Viva el Perú" (Spanish: Long live Peru) was replaced by "Viva el Perú y la madre España" (Spanish: Long live Peru and the Spanish motherland).

After the creation of the School due to the Supreme Decree of July 3, 1922, there were first and a very careful recruitment of qualified personnel for the installation of the campus, getting the nomination very honorable and excellent military history for the kind of Captains, Lieutenants and Ensigns to be commissioned. Class sections for security and investigation were met with great care to conduct background and education and to that extent that every cadet's qualifications were met.