With its 1936 merging with the Kripo (National criminal police) to form sub-units of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police), the Gestapo was classified as a government agency. Himmler by his appointment to Chef der Deutschen Polizei (Chief of German Police), along with serving as Reichsführer-SS made him independent of Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick's nominal control.[22][23]