Landeskriminalamt

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Landeskriminalamt - (LKA) The State Investigation Bureaux in Germany are directly subordinate to the respective state ministry of the interior, supervise police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences, and coordinate investigations involving more than one Präsidium.

Each Landeskriminalamt is also a modern central office for information, analyzing police intelligence from home and abroad and transmitting it to police stations. 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.

The LKA maintains forensic equipment for central examination of evidence using the latest scientific methods (e.g. DNA analysis, Automatic Fingerprint Identification System). It can take over the investigative responsibility in cases of serious crime, e.g. drug trafficking, organized crime, environmental and white-collar crime or extremist and terrorist offences. It coordinates support for police headquarters in hostage, kidnapping and blackmail situations and provides experts in such cases, e.g., the SWAT team Spezialeinsatzkommando, the negotiation group or bomb disposal experts. It is also the central office for physical security technology and crime prevention, and coordinates state anti-drug programs.