German state police
Schleswig-Holstein Police
patrol car
Hamburg Police
motorcycle
Vulcanair P68 Observer
of the
Hesse State Police
Segway
personal transporters tested by the
Saarland Police
in the summer of 2006
Eurocopter EC 135
police helicopter
of the
Brandenburg State Police
The
RMMV Survivor R
of the police of
Saxony
is a tactical, armored vehicle, specialised for anti-terror tasks.
Mounted State Police officers in
Offenbach
,
Hesse
SEK
members of
North Rhine-Westphalia
during an exercise
A helicopter of the
Berlin Police
over
Berlin
Landespolizei
(
German
for 'state police';
German pronunciation:
[?land?spoli?t?sa?]
ⓘ
) is a term used to refer to the
state police
of any of the
states of Germany
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The
Landespolizei
of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when
Germany
united into a single country in 1871, under
Otto von Bismarck
. Various towns and cities also maintained police forces, as the increasing number of new laws and regulations made controlling urban life more complicated.
[2]
[3]
In
Nazi Germany
, all state and city forces were absorbed into the
Ordnungspolizei
, which existed from 1936 to 1945.
[4]
After
World War II
, massive numbers of refugees and displaced persons, hunger and poverty characterised everyday life in Germany. Attacks by armed gangs, robbery, looting and black-marketing were commonplace, and the
military police
could not cope with this troubling security situation. Thus each of the Western Allies quickly permitted the formation of civilian police forces, including small numbers of heavily armed and military like organised police forces in Western Germany, under terms that reflected their own police structures and traditions.
In all three Western zones, the emphasis was to decentralise, demilitarise and democratise the police. Some restrictions were lifted as Cold War tensions grew. In addition, the botched hostage rescue attempt at
Munich Olympic Massacre
,
[5]
as well as rise in organized crime and terrorism (Red Army Faction, Revolutionary Cells) proved that certain police functions necessitated central rather than local direction, thus the western state police forces underwent significant reforms in the 1970s. Most notably, the municipal police forces become part of the
Landespolizei
, such as the Munich city police, which became Polizeiprasidium Munchen as part of Bavarian State Police in 1975.
[6]
The
Landespolizei
became the police force for the federal states in the West.
East Germany created a unified national force in the form of the
Volkspolizei
, however this was reorganized according to the West German police upon the
reunification of Germany
in 1990.
Organisation
[
edit
]
The uniform patch of the Bavarian Police Force
All state police forces in the Federal Republic of Germany are subordinate to their respective
Land
(State) Minister of the Interior. The internal structures of these police forces differ somewhat (which makes generalizations subject to local variations), but in most cases, immediately subordinate to the interior ministries are the regional police headquarters (
Prasidium
). These headquarters direct operations over a wide area or in a big city, and have administrative and supervisory functions. The
Prasidium
often has direct control of the force's specialist units, such as
highway patrols
,
mounted police
detachments and
canine
units.
Under the regional headquarters, there are several district police headquarters (
Direktionen
) serving communities of from 200,000 to 600,000 citizens. Subordinate to each
Direktion
, there are several local stations (
Inspektion
) or precincts (
Revier
) that are staffed on a 24-hour basis, conduct day-to-day policing and serve as points of contact for local citizens. Below this level, the
Polizeiposten
are small police offices staffed by one or two officers, normally only during office hours.
Territorial
[
edit
]
Pocket badge of the Munich city police force
The State Police wear the state patch on the uniform sleeve and sometimes metal city badges are worn over the right breast pocket, indicating which police department they work for. Police officers can be transferred anywhere within their state.
Once skilled, officers of the state police can be moved theoretically nationwide. In practice, such requests are made by the officers themselves. They usually swap workplaces with an exchange partner from another federal state ('Stellentausch', job rotation). Such an exchange is thus possible nationwide and is not dependent on the state.
[7]
[8]
Operational
[
edit
]
State police forces are divided into the following branches:
- Schutzpolizei
("
Schupo
") - the uniformed police officers who patrol the streets and respond to emergency calls etc.
- Bereitschaftspolizei
(BePo) - Uniformed units of the LaPo or Federal Police that provide additional manpower for the Schupo in cases of natural disasters, sporting events, traffic control or demonstrations. In 1950 the Bepo was founded as a paramilitary police force whose main task today is riot/crowd control.
In some states the police academy is still part of the Bepo. After qualifying as a police officer, officers have to serve one to two years with the Bepo before moving on to law enforcement duties at a police station.
- Verkehrspolizei
- The traffic police in Germany.
- Autobahnpolizei
- The
highway patrol
in Germany. In some states the Autobahnpolizei is a sub division of the Verkehrspolizei department.
- Wasserschutzpolizei
(WSP) - The river police for patrolling rivers, lakes and harbours. For practical reasons the WSP of one state may be in charge for territory of another state (e.g., in Hamburg, the WSP is in charge for the Elbe River in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.)
- Wachpolizei
("
Wapo
") - Officers protecting buildings, embassies or pretrial suspects.
- Kriminalpolizei
("
Kripo
") - the detective branch, responsible for most investigations. For instance, if a car is broken into, the Schupo will respond, secure the car, notify the owner etc., and then hand the case over to Kripo for investigation.
- Landeskriminalamt
(LKA) - State Investigation Bureau supervises police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences, and coordinates investigations involving more than one
Prasidium
. Some crimes are exclusive LKA missions such as crimes against the constitution, organized crime, youth gangs or political motivated crime.
Dedicated to the LKA:
Training
[
edit
]
The individual
Lander
and the Federal Police conduct basic police training for their personnel. The length and thoroughness of this training contributes in large degree to the high level of police professionalism in Germany. Teaching all aspects of police work takes time but supports a "uniform career structure" that aims to avoid premature specialization, lets officers think in broad terms, makes career field changes easier and improves promotion opportunities.
German citizenship is not required to be a police officer in Germany. Police departments in big cities are especially keen to recruit officers from ethnic minorities to reduce language and cultural barriers. However, minorities still make up less than one percent of officer numbers.
The
Land
police have had women members since the forces were reconstituted after World War II. Initially, female officers were only assigned to cases involving juveniles and women but in the mid-1970s they were allowed to become patrol officers. The proportion of women on patrol duty is set to rise as 40-50 percent of police school inductees are currently female.
Most police recruits are taken on directly after leaving school and spend about two and a half years at police school in combined classroom tuition and on-the-job training with police departments and the
Bereitschaftspolizei
. These people qualify as regular police officers and wear light blue stars on their shoulder straps, denoting rank in the first echelon of the police service.
After duty as a patrol officer, someone with an outstanding record or wealth of experience can go on to two or three years at a higher police school or college of public administration to qualify for the upper echelon which starts with
Polizeikommissar
(one silver star) and ascends to
Erster Polizeihauptkommissar
(five silver stars). Direct entry candidates with the
Abitur
high school diploma can also take these courses. Some states such as
Hessen
now train all their police officers for the upper echelon to improve pay and promotion chances.
The very few candidates who qualify for the police service's executive ranks study for one year at a state police academy and then for another at the German Police University (
Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei
? DHPol) in Munster-Hiltrup where graduates earn a master's degree in police administration. Direct-entry candidates with a university degree only study for six months at the DHPol. The executive echelon begins with
Polizeirat
(one gold star) and culminates with the
Land
chief of uniformed police (gold wreath with one to three stars) or Federal Police chief (gold wreath with four stars). The DHPol that the states and Federal Interior Ministry administer jointly also provides specialized vocational courses for senior police personnel.
Sidearm
[
edit
]
All Landespolizei officers carry handguns while on duty. Each German state's Landespolizei differ from other states in what sidearm they carry; this list includes some of the weapons utilized by various Landespolizei, as well as weapons that have been phased out:
Originally, post-WWII Landespolizei officers carried Walther's
P38/P1
and
PP(K)
handguns. However, during the 1970s police reforms, the forces also agreed to standardize on handguns. New requirements included: that the guns fire
9×19mm Parabellum
cartridge at a minimum muzzle energy of 500 J, have a minimum magazine capacity of 8 rounds, have a service life of at least 10,000 rounds, weigh no more than 1 kilogram and be within dimensions of 180 mm length×130 mm height×34 mm width, and be fully ambidextrous, safe to carry with a loaded chamber (both holstered and concealed in a pocket) and able to be quickly drawn and instantly ready to fire.
[9]
Walther developed their tried and true P38/P1 design further into
Walther P5
. However, due to its breech-locking design, it was difficult to manufacture, thus driving up the price, and ended up being adopted only by
Baden-Wurttemberg
and
Rhineland-Palatinate
forces.
[10]
Heckler & Koch presented the new
P7
design, which was adopted by
Bavarian State Police
[11]
and Lower Saxony State Police.
Saarland Police
had adopted Heckler & Koch's other design,
P9S
before the standardization agreements and kept it.
[12]
SIG Sauer
chopped the Swiss Army's new standard handgun, SIG Sauer P220 down to required dimensions, making a new model P225, which as
P6
was adopted by most state police forces.
Following the reunification, Thuringia State Police initially kept using the old Volkspolizei
Makarovs
due to lack of funds, Saxony State Police adopted the P7, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern adopted the P6 and Brandenburg adopted SIG Sauer's P228.
New sidearms post-reunification:
Appearance
[
edit
]
Historic green uniform jacket of the
Hesse State Police
Hamburg uniform type
Saxon uniform type
Hesse uniform type
Post WWII
[
edit
]
From 1945 till 1976, the various Lander had a wide array of insignia and rank. Additionally, uniforms colours varied from green to blue, and various shades thereof. For example, the City State of Hamburg police NCOs wore blue uniforms with inverted British style chevrons and the Schleswig Holstein police wore green uniforms with Third Reich style rank. Bavaria maintained a State Police (Landespolizei) as well as City Police (Gemeinde / Stadt) forces and, as a special feature, an
own Border Police
(Bayerische Grenzpolizei). Two separate and distinct uniforms were worn during this time by the state police (Green) and City Police (Blue). The last city police force was Munich, which was finally merged into the state police in 1975. This organization was also prevalent in the other American Sector states.
Green uniforms
[
edit
]
From 1945 all German police forces wore different coloured uniforms, but beginning in the mid-seventies the police of all West German Lander and West Berlin wore the same uniform that
Heinz Oestergaard
designed most parts of in the early seventies. The standard uniform consisted of a tunic, parka, pullover without shroud, coat, visor cap and necktie in moss-green, trouser, pullover, and cardigan in brown-beige, and shirt (long and short sleeve) in bamboo-yellow. Shoes, boots, holsters, leather jackets, and other leather gear were black. Leather gloves were olive drab. Exceptions were the visor caps with a white top worn by the Verkehrspolizei, or traffic police. The Verkehrspolizei wore white gloves, tunics, and coats during traffic duties and ceremonial duties (like white holsters and leather gear). In some Lander all officers wore visor caps with white tops in general. The Wasserschutzpolizei wore uniforms of a slightly different design. They had dark or navy-blue jackets, the shirt was white, and the visor cap had a white top. The BGS wore a forest green uniform with a bamboo-yellow shirt. After German reunification, the Volkspolizei was broken up into Landespolizei and switched to the standard uniform. During the period of transition they still wore their old uniforms, but with western-style sleeves and cap emblems.
Vehicle markings were also redesigned to conform to a white and green livery with the legend "Polizei" in bold lettering.
Blue uniforms
[
edit
]
All German State Police Forces (German: Landespolizei) and the Federal Police (German: Bundespolizei) shifted after 2005 to blue uniforms to conform with the common blue look of most police forces in Europe. In line with the uniforms, police vehicles and various items of equipment also changed their main color to blue. Although there are 16 states, currently only six types of state police uniforms are in use, because many states co-operate in the design and sourcing of the police uniforms.
Cap badges, patches and rank remain the same as before, just in blue. Vehicle liveries also changed to a silver/blue or white/blue design.
Exceptions
[
edit
]
The
Bundeskriminalamt
(BKA - the German Federal Criminal Police Office) and the
Bundespolizei
(BPOL - Federal Police, formerly known as the Bundesgrenzschutz/BGS) are federal institutions that are not part of the
Landespolizei
. Another police is the
Polizei beim Deutschen Bundestag
(Police at the Bundestag).
See also
[
edit
]
Crime:
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"OSCE entry"
.
POLIS
. OSCE. Archived from
the original
on 2009-05-24
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
'Deutsche Einigungskriege' (Wars of German Unification), Bibliographisches Institut & F. A. Brockhaus AG, Mannheim retrieved April 9, 2015
- ^
§ 10 II 17, ALR ('Allgemeines Landesrecht fur die preußischen Staaten', General state laws for the Prussian states), 1794
- ^
"Lexikon der Wehrmacht - Die Schutzenkompanie eines Infanterieregiments in der Infanteriedivision von 1939"
.
www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
.
- ^
Dahlke, Matthias (2011).
Demokratischer Staat und transnationaler Terrorismus. Drei Wege zur Unnachgiebigkeit in Westeuropa 1972?1975
[
Democratic state and transnational terrorism. Three paths to intransigence in Western Europe 1972-1975.
] (in German). Munich: Oldenbourg. p. 68.
- ^
Vierte Verordnung zur Verstaatlichung der Gemeindepolizeien
vom 13. Mai 1975 (
GVBl. S. 118
)
- ^
"§ 15, Beamtenstatusgesetz (Civil Servants Status Act) of Germany"
.
dejure.org
. Retrieved
April 9,
2015
.
- ^
"Job rotation service of the Gewerkschaft der Polizei (Police Union) of Germany"
.
www.gdp.de
(in German)
. Retrieved
April 9,
2015
.
- ^
Wo?niak, Ryszard (2001).
Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej
(in Polish) (2nd (G-Ł) ed.). Bellona. p. 112.
- ^
McNab, Chris (2009).
Handfeuerwaffen des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts
. Neuer Kaiser Verlag.
- ^
"P7 observation while in Munich - Page 2"
.
www.hkpro.com
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Heckler-Koch"
.
Heckler-Koch
(in German)
. Retrieved
2024-04-29
.
- ^
Gehm, Eckard.
"Neue Pistolen: James Bonds Dienstwaffe fur Polizisten im Norden | shz.de"
.
shz
. Retrieved
2021-12-31
.
- ^
"Carl Walther Sportwaffen GmbH"
.
www.carl-walther.de
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-07-02.
- ^
"P5 Initials - Page 2 - WaltherForums"
.
www.waltherforums.com
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
"Super-Pistole: Hessens Polizisten bekommen HK P30"
.
bild.de
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
"Glock 46: Das sind die neuen Pistolen der Polizei in Sachsen-Anhalt"
.
- ^
"SFP 9: Das ist die neue Feuerwaffe der bayerischen Polizei"
.
merkur.de
. 12 January 2018
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
thvo.
"Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Polizei bekommt 5700 neue Pistolen - svz.de"
.
svz
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
"Sachsens Polizei kriegt neue Waffen"
.
TAG24
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
"Niedersachsens Polizei bekommt fur 7,5 Millionen Euro neue Pistolen"
.
hna.de
. 1 February 2016
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
External links
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]
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States with limited recognition
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Defunct
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