Germany

German law enforcement services are provided by a combination of different forces which have either state, national or international mandates.

State police forces: Landespolizei

Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 states.  Each state is responsible for its own policing matters and has its own state Police, called “Landespolizei”.

Nationwide police : Bundespolizei (BPOL)

With 40,000 employees – more than 30,000 of them fully trained police officers – BPOL is a country-wide operational police force responsible for domestic security. As part of Germany’s Ministry of Interior, it is Germany’s uniformed police responsible for:

• Border security – including passport control;
• Coast guard services, which comprise the surveillance of land borders and national sea-borders;
• Protection of federal buildings and foreign embassies;
• Reserve forces to deal with demonstrations, disturbances or emergencies;  
• Transportation and passenger security at international airports and on German railways;
• Rescue helicopter service.

International policing: INTERPOL Wiesbaden

The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) – which acts as the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Germany – is Germany’s central agency for police information and communication. It provides support to all Federal police forces and coordinates national crime suppression activities.  It also serves as the German Criminal Investigations Department.

As part of the Ministry of Interior, the BKA is called upon by German Police forces – including Landespolizei – when criminal investigations take on an international dimension. Through its operations and coordination center, a 24-hour service center known as the “Kriminaldauerdienst”, the BKA is able to take immediate action when investigations, searches and international communications require it.

The BKA has the jurisdiction to conduct investigations relating to:

• International trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives or drugs;
• Internationally organized production or exchange of counterfeit currency;
• Internationally organized money laundering;
• Internationally organized terrorism;
• Serious cases of computer sabotage.

Responsible for all serious crime investigations, the BKA also helps its national law enforcement partners in:

• Forensic identification and sciences;
• Research and criminal analysis;
• Criminology and criminal investigation;
• Researching and developing new police methods;
• Developing new working methods aimed at suppressing crime.

With offices in Wiesbaden, Berlin and Meckenheim, the BKA employs more than 5,500 men and women. With their specialized knowledge and expertise in the fields of criminal sciences, information technology and administration, they cover a broad spectrum of activity. Approximately half of them are fully trained criminal police officers. The others come from more than 70 different occupational groups.