Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)

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The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (in German: Bundeskriminalamt (BKA); other translations: Federal Criminal Investigation Bureau, Federal Investigation Bureau) is the national investigative police agency of Germany, comparable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States, the central investigative departments of the French National Police or the Australian Federal Police.

Its responsibilities are the coordination of law enforcement in cooperation with criminal investigation bureaux of the individual states of Germany (these state investigation bureaux are known as Landeskriminalamt (plural Landeskriminalämter)) and to conduct investigations in serious crimes, especially when other countries are involved.

It is headquartered in Wiesbaden and occupies three different locations in the city, one of which is the former Lindsey Air Station. The BKA occupied parts of the barracks after the US Army left the site in 1993. Reminders of the American presence remain, however; most BKA addresses fall somewhere on George-Marshall-Straße.

Outside of Wiesbaden, the BKA has branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim. The BKA is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Approximately 4,700 BKA personnel operate nationwide. The BKA’s missions include:

Coordinating cooperation between the federation and state police forces (especially state criminal investigation authorities) and with foreign investigative authorities.
Collecting and analyzing criminal intelligence, managing the INPOL database of all important crimes and criminals.
Investigating cases of terrorism, extremism, espionage, or economic and financial crime.
Protection of federal witnesses.
Acting as a clearing house for identifying and cataloging images and information on victims of child sexual exploitation, similar to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the United States.

The BKA only becomes involved in cases when requested by Land authorities or in cases involving two or more Länder. The federal prosecutor can also direct it to investigate cases of special public interest. The BKA also provides assistance to states in forensic matters, research and organized crime investigations. It is Germany’s national central bureau for the European Police Office (Europol), Schengen Information System and International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

The Close Protection Group protects the members of Germany’s constitutional bodies and their foreign guests of state and is often the most visible part of the BKA. Specially selected and trained officers with special equipment and vehicles provide round-the-clock personal security to those they protect. The Protection Group is now headquartered in Berlin.