Law enforcement in Germany
Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system.
Because Germany's borders became largely open in 2005, due to the development of the European Union and spread of the Schengen Agreement to all neighbouring countries, the Bundesgrenzschutz was renamed to Federal Police (German: Bundespolizei).
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (German: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz / BfV) is primarily the domestic intelligence service of Germany, concerned with espionage, treason, and sedition.
It has no powers of arrest and cannot use force, but it carries out surveillance and supplies the BKA and other police agencies with information e.g. on terrorist groups.
Some units have light aircraft and helicopters to facilitate rapid access to remote border areas and for patrol and rescue missions.
In addition to controlling Germany's border, the BPOL serves as a federal reserve force to deal with major disturbances and other emergencies beyond the scope of Land police.
The BPOL guards airports , and several highly trained detachments are available for special crisis situations requiring demolition equipment, helicopters, or combat vehicles.
It collates data on criminal offences and offenders in crime statistics that are used as a basis for new strategies, policy decisions and legislative initiatives.
It also analyzes certain offense areas, evaluates the police measures executed in each case, forecasts expected tendencies and describes events in annual reports.
Due to the negative experiences of abusing power in Nazi-Germany, the domestic intelligence duties are not centralized and therefore maintained by the states.
As the BfV, the LfV have no powers of arrest and cannot use force, but it carries out surveillance and supplies police agencies with information on extremist parties, international crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, and other illegal activities.
Each state promulgates a law which lays down the organisation and duties of its police (Landespolizeigesetz or Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz).
Concerns about terrorism and the growth of organized crime have strengthened the movement to centralize police procedures and operations.
The separate Administrative Police formerly had duties that included the registration of residents and the issuance of passports, identity cards, and various permits.
These volunteers are specially trained, wear regular uniforms and are sworn and armed with normal police gear.
Mostly they are charged with monitoring municipal by-laws and laws that fall under the responsibility of municipalities, which include monitoring the conduct of shop owners, sanitation inspections, veterinary inspections and minor infractions and misdemeanors such as illegal parking, littering, state and local dog regulations etc.
Similar to the municipal order enforcement units, there are different denominations: Police training is primarily the responsibility of the individual states, although the federal government provides assistance and coordination.
After about six years of duty as a patrol officer, an individual with an outstanding record who does well on a highly competitive examination and started off in the regular police academy (mittlerer Polizeivollzugsdienst) can go on to two or three years at a higher police school or a college of public administration to qualify for a bachelor's degree (Aufstieg in den gehobenen Polizeivollzugsdienst).
Initially, female officers were assigned to cases involving juveniles and women, working in plainclothes without weapons.
The Alert Police is assigned to barracks where they are organized along military lines into squads, platoons, and 120- to 150-member training or standby companies.
In Hamburg, for example, the BePo patrol the subway system, assist in police raids in the red-light district, and are present at large demonstrations and soccer matches.
Their units are equipped with their own transport, tents, and rations, enabling them to be shifted quickly to other Länder without having to rely on outside support.
In the mid to late seventies the "mittlerer Dienst" was disestablished for the detective branch Kriminalpolizei, but in some states of the former GDR, they still exist.
Entry into the "gehobener Dienst" requires a high-school diploma and period of training is 3 years at a college of administration and justice.
In the Saarland which is historically closely tied to neighboring France, vehicles from French companies as well as European Fords are used as police cars.
In an effort to harmonize the coloring of police in Europe, Germany has adopted a blue-silver livery[13] with the addition of neon reflective surfaces to increase visibility.
Today, German police forces generally lease patrol cars from a manufacturer, usually for a period of three years.
The leasing company marks the patrol cars using plastic foils with reflecting strips as borders instead of painting them.
From 1945 onwards, due to the multilayer organisation in municipal and rural state law enforcement agencies, Nazi Police forces wore completely different colored uniforms.
All state police forces implemented the same green and beige uniform, most parts designed by Heinz Oestergaard.
