In the Aizu Clan, the formal security force was the Kyoto Mimawarigumi (Commander = Tadazaburo SASAKI), and Shinsen-gumi (Commander = Isami KONDO), composed of men with the social position of farmers/merchants, was the non-formal security force of the Aizu Clan for the Kyoto area (in later years, KONDO and others became vassals of the shogunate, and thus Shinsen-gumi became a formal security force).
会津藩には武士身分で構成される正規治安部隊、京都見廻組（組長＝佐々木只三郎）があり、農民・商人身分で構成される新撰組（組長＝近藤勇）は、会津藩の京都における非正規治安部隊（後年は近藤らは幕臣になり正式な治安部隊になる）である。