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.
Policing has always been a responsibility of the German states even after 1871 when the country was unified. The 1919 constitution of the Weimar Republic did provide for the possibility of creating a national police force, should the necessity arise, but it was only in the Nazi era that Gestapo 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 new West Germany, while the Soviet zone became East Germany. Each country pursued a different path concerning law enforcement.
File:CIA, Conrad Schumanns Sprung in die Freiheit, August 1961 1.jpg|thumb|Konrad Schumann, an East German border guard, fleeing East Germany towards West Germany in 1962
In light of the gross misuse of power by the centralized Nazi state, the new West German constitution provided a strict separation of powers, placing law enforcement firmly in the hands of the states. The only policing agencies allowed at the federal level were the paramilitary Federal Border Protection, also responsible for coast guard services, and the Federal Office for Criminal Investigation, both under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. East Germany created a centralized police force under the Ministry of the Interior, the paramilitary Volkspolizei. It also established a border police force, initially an independent force, later integrated into the army and then reorganized as an independent military organization. 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. The duties of the Federal Police still are limited to the security of railway lines, main railway stations, airports, sea ports, and several other special duties.
Federal agencies
Federal Criminal Police Office
Another central police agency, the Federal Criminal Police Office, with approximately 7,100 agents, operates nationwide from headquarters in Wiesbaden. The BKA is a clearinghouse for criminal intelligence records.It provides assistance to the State Criminal Police Offices in forensic matters, research, and criminal investigations. It is also the national point of contact for the International Criminal Police Organization.
The BKA conducts its own criminal investigations or enters existing cases only when requested by state authorities, or in cases involving two or more states. The BKA has been involved in investigations against various terrorist groups since the 1960s.
Federal Customs Service
The Federal Customs Service is the executive and fiscal administrative agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance. It was founded in 1949 in West Germany. The purpose of the Customs Service is to administer federal taxes, execute demands for payment on behalf of the federal government and federal statutory corporations, monitor the cross border movements of goods with regard to compliance with bans and restrictions, and prevent illicit work. Uniformed federal agents are used for the execution of the financial legislation. Subordinated to the federal customs service, the Customs Investigation Bureau in Cologne coordinates customs investigations nationwide in particular monitoring foreign trade, uncovering violations of EU market regulations, illegal technology exports, subsidy fraud in the agricultural sector, drug trafficking and money laundering. In response to the increasing violence against law enforcement officers, the customs SWAT team, the Central Customs Support Group was implemented in 1997 as the customs tactical unit for dangerous missions.Federal Intelligence Service
The Federal Intelligence Service was based in Munich. Since February 2019, the Service is based in Berlin. The BND is restricted to the investigation of threats originating outside of Germany. It depends heavily on wiretapping and other surveillance techniques applied to international communications. Such activities are authorized only to counter the danger of an armed threat to the country, but intelligence authorities have pressed for the added power to monitor suspected international traffickers of weapons and drugs.Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution 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. Its main office is in Wiesbaden. Similar and independent offices exist in each state. Although they cooperate closely with the federal office, they operate under the control of state authorities.Federal Police
Established in 1951, the Bundespolizei is the uniformed federal police force. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Bundespolizei was previously known as the Bundesgrenzschutz and had a more restricted role until July 1, 2005 when the law renaming the BGS as the BPOL was enacted.All personnel on duty carry sidearms. Some units have light aircraft and helicopters to facilitate rapid access to remote border areas and for patrol and rescue missions. A coast guard force forms a part of the BPOL. It is equipped with 14 large patrol craft and several helicopters.
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. After shortcomings in police procedures and training were revealed by the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, a task force known as Border Protection Group 9 was formed to deal with terrorist incidents, especially hostage situations. The GSG-9 won world attention when it rescued 86 passengers on a Lufthansa airliner hijacked to Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1977.
A military rank structure similar to that of the Bundeswehr was replaced in the mid-1970s by civil service-type personnel grades. The service uniform was green but has been changed to blue.
The West German Railway Police, formerly an independent force, and the East German Transportpolizei were restructured under the BGS to form the Bundespolizei in 1990.
Military police
The Feldjäger are responsible for carrying out military law in Germany. It was formed in October 1955. They have no power over civilians.State agencies
State Criminal Investigation Office
The State Criminal Police Office, is an independent law enforcement agency in most German states, that is directly subordinated to the respective state ministry of the interior. The LKA supervises police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences and coordinates investigations of serious crime, involving more than one regional headquarter. They can take over investigative responsibility in cases of serious crime, e.g. drug trafficking, organized crime, environmental and white-collar crime or extremist and terrorist offences. 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.State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in every single state, is the domestic intelligence service, concerned with espionage, treason, and sedition. 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.State Police Forces
The German states are responsible for managing the bulk of Germany's police forces. Each state has its own police force known as the State Police. Each state promulgates a law which lays down the organisation and duties of its police.Although the state police forces are regulated by sixteen different legislatures and are, in fact, different police forces, there has been an increasing tendency toward standardization of police activities nationwide. Concerns about terrorism and the growth of organized crime have strengthened the movement to centralize police procedures and operations. The idea of creating one single police code for the whole of Germany came up in the 1960s but never passed.
These forces are organized by cities, towns, or rural communities, but all are integral components of the police forces of the state in which they are located. The respective state minister of interior supervises police operations in his or her jurisdiction. Although the internal organizations differ somewhat, all state police are divided into the Protective Police, a uniformed service carrying out routine law and order duties, and Criminal Police Office, who carry out criminal investigations. The separate Administrative Police formerly had duties that included the registration of residents and the issuance of passports, identity cards, and various permits. These functions have been transferred to civil state government departments in all states.
The uniforms and vehicle colour schemes of the state police forces are different, but somewhat similar all over Germany, the state police forces are structured differently in each state as well. For example, in some states the Kripo can be part of the ordinary police force, in some states it is organized separately.
The idea of using the same colour for police uniforms and vehicles throughout the European Union has been realized in all German state police forces and the federal police. All vehicle liveries and uniforms changed from white/green to silver/blue by 2018. The basic silver colour for vehicles in the most states, is actually increasing the resale value and thus lowers leasing costs. The uniforms already have been changed by all state police forces and the federal police from the green/beige version introduced in 1979 to blue ones. Hamburg was the first state to make the transition, Bavaria the last state, finishing the replacement of the green/beige uniforms in 2018.