Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Italian Carabinieri, French Police Nationale, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation or Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Police has always been a responsibility of the German states even after 1871 when the country was unified. The constitution of the Weimar Republic 1919 did provide for the possibility of creating a national police force, should the necessity arise, but it was only in the Nazi era, that state police forces were unified under central control and a national police force created. The police became a tool of the centralized state and the Nazi party. Following the defeat of 1945, Germany was divided; in 1949 the three western zones were turned into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), the eastern zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Each country pursued a different path concerning law enforcement.
In light of the gross misuse of power by the centralized Nazi state, the new constitution of West Germany provided for a strict separation of powers, placing law enforcement firmly in the hands of the states. The only policing allowed on the federal level was border control (Bundesgrenzschutz including coast guard) controlled by the Ministry of Interior and originally organized along paramilitary lines, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Police of the parliament.
East Germany created a centralized police force under the Ministry of Interior, the paramilitary Volkspolizei. It also established a border police, initially an independent force, then integrated into the army and then reorganized as an independent military organization.
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By far the largest of the three federal police forces in West Germany was the border police, established in 1951 amidst growing east-west tensions. Germany was not yet allowed to re-arm, so the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS; Federal Border Guard) was initially created as a kind of Republican Guard, staffed with 10,000 men. Its main purpose was the control of the borders including the border between East and West Germany and between the emerging cold war blocs.
The rise of international crime and terrorism has repeatedly lead to discussions about the necessity of a federal police force, yet the states have a watchful eye on such aspirations by federal governments. Through the years they did provide the BGS with additional powers and responsibilities that were more of a national nature, e.g. guarding airports, federal institutions and foreign embassies, supplying several highly trained detachments for special crisis situations, supplying a federal reserve force (alert police) etc. The most renowned special unit is GSG 9 that was created to combat hostages incidents, assassinations and organized crime. In spite of the expansion of its powers, criminal investigations can still only be conducted within its jurisdiction. With the privatization of the federal German Railway the Bahnpolizei (railway police) was integrated into the BGS in 1992.
In 2005, the BGS was renamed Bundespolizei (BPOL; Federal Police) with a combined staff of around 40,000.[1] BPOL participates in United Nations peacekeeping missions and supports intelligence-gathering activities.[2] BPOL cooperates with several other federal agencies associated with maritime administration to form the German Federal Coast Guard, known as the Küstenwache.
The second federal agency of equal importance is the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA), also under the Ministry of Interior. Its main objective is to coordinate law enforcement in close cooperation with the state investigation bureaux “(Landeskriminalamt, LKA)” and to conduct investigations in certain areas of serious crimes involving other countries.[3] The BKA is also responsible for the protection of the members of the federal constitutional institutions such as the upper and lower house, the federal president and government and the Federal Constitutional Court and it represents Germany at Interpol. BKA-Headquarters are in Wiesbaden and branches in Meckenheim (near Bonn) and in Berlin. Its full and part time staff presently numbers 5,200.
The Polizei beim Deutschen Bundestag (Polizei DBT, commonly known as Bundestagspolizei) is the smallest and least known of the federal police forces. It is responsible for the protection of the premises of the Bundestag in Berlin
The German states are responsible for managing the bulk of Germany's police forces.[4] Each state has its own police force known as the Landespolizei (State Police). Each state promulgates a law which lays down the organisation and duties of its police (Landespolizeigesetz or Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz). The idea of creating one single police code for the whole of Germany (allgemeines Polizeigesetz) came up in the 1960s but was never passed.
Although uniforms and vehicle colour schemes are similar all over Germany, the police forces are structured slightly differently in each state. For example, the Kriminalpolizei (detective branch, often shortened to Kripo) are part of the ordinary police force in some states and separate organizations in others.
The idea of using the same colour for police uniforms and vehicles throughout the European Union has resulted in German police forces slowly changing vehicle liveries from white/green to silver/blue. The uniforms have also changed in most states from the green/beige version introduced in 1979 to blue. Hamburg was the first state to make the transition. In most states, newly acquired vehicles and helicopters get the new colour scheme, except for Bavaria and Saarland, which for the time being will stick to the old green/white-or-silver scheme for their vehicles and uniforms.
Many German states have neighbourhood watch programmes.
Bavaria has instituted a system of citizen patrols (Sicherheitswacht) where unarmed teams of two volunteers patrol assigned areas to improve subjective security. These teams carry a radio to call for help if necessary and a white armband with black letters identifying them as a neighbourhood watch patrol.
Citizens in Baden-Württemberg can participate in the Volunteer Police programme, where approx. 1,200 citizens voluntarily assist their local police in 20 towns. These volunteers are specially trained, wear uniforms and are armed. Their main duty is crime prevention: conducting walking patrols to deter street crime, patrolling near schools and kindergartens and maintaining contact with potential victims of crime and juvenile delinquents.
Citizens in Hessen also participate in a Volunteer Police program, where some citizens voluntarily assist their local police. The volunteers are trained for 50 hours, receive a blue uniform, pepper spray and a mobile phone. Their main duty is crime prevention: conducting walking patrols to deter street crime, patrolling near schools and kindergartens and maintaining contact with potential victims of crime and juvenile delinquents. People can also join the Wachpolizei which has less competencies (and less pay) than regular police to perform basic police tasks such as traffic or guard duties, releasing regular officers for patrol work.
Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review.[5][6] Germany's supreme court system, called Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes, is specialised: for civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice, and for other affairs the courts are the Federal Labour Court, the Federal Social Court, the Federal Finance Court and the Federal Administrative Court. The Völkerstrafgesetzbuch regulates the consequences of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes, and gives German courts universal jurisdiction in some circumstances.[7] Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system is aimed towards rehabilitation of the criminal and the protection of the general public.[8] Except for petty crimes, which are tried before a single professional judge, and serious political crimes, all charges are tried before mixed tribunals on which lay judges (Schöffen) sit side by side with professional judges.[9][10]
German police typically use cars from German manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Opel and BMW are commonly used as patrol cars (Streifenwagen). States used to prefer vehicles built in or close to the respective state. However, with most states now leasing instead of buying their vehicles and in light of European Union rules on contract bidding, states have less latitude in choosing which manufacturer will provide their patrol cars than they did.
In the Saarland which is adjacent to and historically closely tied to France, vehicles from French companies as well as European Ford are used as police cars. The Bavarian State Police uses mainly BMW and Audi vehicles, as both companies are based in Bavaria (BMW in Munich and Audi in Ingolstadt). In the eastern states of Germany, mostly Volkswagens are in use (Volkswagen is based in Wolfsburg, close to the eastern states). The Hessian police prefer Opel cars (General Motors-brand Opel is based in Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt am Main in Hessen). Baden-Württemberg mostly uses Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen brand cars for their police force.
Before the police reform in the mid-1970s, Germany had many city police forces and each had its own police car livery. Dark blue, dark green and white were popular colours. However, the dark colours were perceived as a disadvantage as many accidents occurred at night during high speed chases.
Therefore the conference of interior ministers decided on standardising police car liveries so that the cars appeared non-threatening and could be easily visible at night. And so bright green and white were the colours associated with police vehicles in Germany since the 1970s. More recently, police forces changed to silver cars and vans instead of white ones as they were easier to sell than the white ones when their police service was over. Now, most states have light blue instead of green stripes, but cars painted in the old livery can still be seen (as of April 2008). Only the states of Bavaria and Saarland have opted to retain the green-on-white/silver livery; all other states are transitioning to blue-on-white/silver.
These days, 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. The foils are removed when the cars are sold to the public as standard silver used cars when the lease runs out.
Unlike in other countries like the United States, police cars in Germany rarely come with any special equipment (apart from the obvious, like flashing lights or sirens) not available to other users of the same model, as the cars on sale in European markets are generally considered to be fit for police duty without any further alteration.
Germany introduced green and khaki uniforms designed by Heinz Oestergaard in 1976. However, because most European countries have blue or black police uniforms, most German states as well as the federal police are introducing newly designed blue uniforms to conform with the common image of the police in Europe. At present (August 2009) only the police forces in Bavaria and the Saarland are not intending to alter the 1976 design, whereas the other states have already begun or completed the shift from green to blue.
In line with the uniforms, police vehicles and various items of equipment are also changing colour from green to blue.
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