They made reports upon which were based the appointments of municipal officers, the granting of licenses to carry firearms, and the determination of the loyalty or the disloyalty of individuals.
They were vested with extraordinary powers.

Offences against them were tried by courts-martial, and were construed as offences against sentinels on duty.

Penalties were therefore extremely severe.
Officers of the _guardia civil_ on leave could by their own initiative assume a status of duty with the full powers and responsibilities that go with command.

This is contrary to American practice, under which only dire emergency justifies an officer in assuming an official status unless he is duly assigned thereto by competent authority.
The _guardia civil_ could arrest on suspicion, and while the Spanish Government did not directly authorize or sanction the use of force to extort confessions, it was not scrupulous in the matter of accepting confessions so obtained as evidence of crime, nor was it quick to punish members of the _guardia civil_ charged with mistreatment of prisoners.
Reports made by the _guardia civil_ were not questioned, but were accepted without support even in cases of the killing of prisoners alleged to have attempted to escape, or of men evading arrest.
This method of eliminating without trial citizens deemed to be undesirable was applied with especial frequency in the suppression of active brigandage, and latterly during the revolution against Spain.

Prisoners in charge of the _guardia civil_ were always tied elbow to elbow.