Armed Police Battalions serve as reserve force to be deployed whenever and wherever the district police falls short of manpower in the maintenance of law & order.Administratively, the armed police battalions serve as the feeder service for subsequent transfer to the district police. Organizationally, the armed police battalions are maintained on the pattern of infantry battalions anywhere in the world.

The eleven battalions with a total strength of about 6,755 are located at different places in the state. They are:

• Ist Kerala Armed Police - KAP-I (Thrissur/ Trichur)
• IInd Kerala Armed Police - KAP-II (Palakkad/Palghat)
• IIIrd Kerala Armed Police - KAP-III(Adoor)
• IVth Kerala Armed Police -KAP-IV(Kannur)
• Vth Kerala Armed Police -KAP- V(Kuttikanam)
• Special Armed Police -SAP (Thiruvananthapuram)
• Malabar Special Police -MSP (Malappuram)
• Rapid Response and Rescue Force - RRRF (Pandikkad)
• India Reserve Battalion - IRBn (Thrissur)
• State Industrial Security Force -SISF(Thiruvananthapuram)
• Armed Women Police Battalion