Bahnpolizei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bahnpolizei is the term in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland for the Railway police.
[edit] Germany
Bahnpolizei was the name of the former Railway police of West Germany and fell under the jurisdiction of the Deutsche Bundesbahn federal railway company. Bahnpolizei officers investigated trespassing on rail property, assaults against passengers, terrorism threats targeting the railway, arson, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock or buildings, signal vandalism, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, robbery and theft of personal belongings, baggage or freight. They also investigated train/vehicle collisions and hazardous materials releases.
When the Deutsche Bundesbahn was privatised in 1990, the Bahnpolizei was merged with the Bundesgrenzschutz Federal Border Guard Force because it could not be part of a private company. The Bundesgrenzschutz was renamed Bundespolizei (Federal Police) on July 1, 2005, and this force is currently responsible for security and passenger checks on the German railway system.
[edit] Switzerland
Switzerland never had a separate transport police because all rail employees had limited police authority. However, due to the introduction of trains with no conductors in the late 1990s, crime in trains increased and the SBB-CFF-FFS rail company trained Bahnpolizei officers for its driver-only commuter trains. In 2002 the SBB-CFF-FFS merged its Bahnpolizei force with the private security company Securitas AG and the resulting Securitrans is now the force that protects Switzerland's trains, passengers, rail property and rail workers.
[edit] External links
- Bundespolizei home page (in German)
- Information brochure about the Bundespolizei (in German and English)
- Swiss rail police homepage in English
|
|||||||||||||
