Federal Police (Germany)

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Federal Police
Bundespolizei
Common name Federal Police
Abbreviation BPOL
German Federal Police Logo.svg
Logo of the BPOL (since 2009)
Agency overview
Formed 1 July 2005 (18 years ago) (2005-07-01)
Preceding agency Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS) (Federal Border Guard)
Employees 40,000
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency Germany
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters BPOL-Präsidium, Potsdam
Police Officers 30,000
Civilians 10,000
BPOL-Direktions
9
Facilities
Stations 67
Helicopters 132
Website
www.bundespolizei.de (German)

The Federal Police (Bundespolizei or BPOL) is a (primarily) uniformed federal police force in Germany. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium des Innern (BMI)).[1] Ordinary police forces, meanwhile, are under the administration of the individual German states (Bundesländer) and are known as the Landespolizei.

The Bundespolizei was formerly known as the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS) ("Federal Border Guard"), which had a more restricted role. Prior to 1994 BGS members also had military combatant status due to their historical foundation and border-guard role in West Germany. In July 2005 the law renaming the BGS as the BPOL was enacted.

Missions

The BPOL has the following missions:

Stop and search on a motorway: Federal Police is looking for drug smuggling

The Bundespolizei can also be used to reinforce state police if requested by a state (Land) government. The BPOL maintains these reserve forces to deal with major demonstrations, disturbances or emergencies, supplementing the capabilities of the State Operational Support Units. Several highly trained detachments are available for crisis situations requiring armored cars, water cannon or other special equipment.

BPOL has investigators conduct criminal investigations only within its jurisdiction; otherwise the cases are referred to the appropriate state police force or to the federal criminal investigative agency, the Federal Criminal Police (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA).

In addition, the Bundespolizei cooperates closely with German state executive authorities, such as prosecutor's offices (Staatsanwaltschaft) in pursuing criminal investigations.

Restoration of border control tasking on all borders (2015)

On the night of September 13th 2015, Germany unilaterally reintroduced border controls, ostensibly under emergency provisions of the Schengen Agreement, due to the 2015 European migrant crisis overwhelming Germany's available resources, law enforcement and otherwise. The nominally temporary border controls were initially put in place just on the border with Austria, but by the following day (Monday, September 14th 2015) they were being put in place at all borders with fellow EU members. The same day, Austria and other EU members who were part of the Schengen Area began to put in place their own border controls (again meant to be temporary) in response to Germany's actions.

The new German border controls are to be primarily enforced both by the various Landespolizei of those German states that adjoin external borders, and in particular by the Bundespolizei.

Strength

The Bundespolizei consists of around 40,000 personnel:

  • 30,000 are fully trained police officers.
    • 21,000 provide border, railway and aviation security.
    • 6,000 serve in the Alert Police.
    • 3,000 serve in the following special units:
      • The Central Office for Communications and Information.
      • GSG 9.
      • The Aviation Wing.
  • 10,000 salaried civilian (unarmed) support personnel, including:
    • 6,800 civil servants who perform administrative and support services.
    • 2,000 Immigration inspectors (called the Individual Service) who perform operational duty handling border protection and immigration matters and airline passenger checks.

Organization

File:Bundespolizei-Standortkarte.pdf

Bundespolizei patch

The BPOL national headquarters (BPOL-Präsidium) in Potsdam performs all central control functions. Eight regional headquarters (BPOL-Direktion) control the BPOL stations conduct rail police and border protection missions. These areas of responsibility conform to the federal state boundaries which they did not do prior to 1 March 2008.

The regional headquarters are as follows:

These regional headquarters each have an investigation department and a mobile inspection and observation unit. Moreover, they control the 67 BPOL stations (BPOL-Inspektion) which in turn control the Bundespolizeireviere or precincts located in places that require a 24-hour presence by BPOL officers.

A special Direktion is responsible for Frankfurt International Airport.

The central school for advanced and vocational training is in Lübeck and controls the five basic training schools in Swisttal, Neustrelitz, Oerlenbach, Walsrode and Eschwege. It is also in charge of the Federal Police Sport School in Bad Endorf and a competitive sport project in Kienbaum near Berlin . The sport school specialises in winter sport events and has trained many of Germany's top skiers and skaters such as Claudia Pechstein.

The Zentrale Direktion Bundesbereitschaftspolizei controls the mobile support and rapid reaction battalions located in Bayreuth, Deggendorf, Blumberg (near Berlin), Hünfeld, Uelzen, Duderstadt, Sankt Augustin, Bad Bergzabern, Bad Düben and Ratzeburg. The number of Bereitschaftspolizei companies increased in March 2008 from 28 to 29 comprising approx. 25 percent of Germany’s police support units.[2]

BPOL Special Units

The following special units also exist:

  • The BPOL Aviation Group is directly subordinate to the BPOL HQ in Potsdam. It controls the five aviation squadrons around the country that operate the force's helicopters. These are located in Fuhlendorf (north, with satellite airfield in Gifhorn), Blumberg (east), Fuldatal (centre), Oberschleißheim (south) and Sankt Augustin (west). Its duties include; border surveillance, monitoring installations belonging to German Rail, helping in serious accidents and disasters in Germany and abroad, searching for missing persons, searching for criminals on the run, supporting the police forces of the federal states, providing transportation for persons whose security is endangered, providing transportation for guests of the Federal government,
Bundespolizei cutter BP 21 Bredstedt
supporting federal and state authorities, and providing air search and rescue services in coordination with the 12 air rescue centers throughout Germany.
  • The BPOL Information and Communications Center is now a department of the BPOL HQ in Potsdam.

History

Bundesgrenzschutz patch (1952 to 1976)

In 1951 the West German government established a Federal Border Protection Force (Bundesgrenzschutz or BGS) composed of 10,000 men under the Federal Interior Ministry’s jurisdiction. The force replaced allied military organisations such as the U.S. Constabulary then patrolling West Germany’s borders. The BGS was described as a mobile, lightly armed police force for border and internal security despite fears that it would be the nucleus of a new German army. When West Germany did establish an army, the Bundeswehr, BGS personnel were given the choice of staying in the BGS or joining the army. Most decided to join the army.

In 1953, the BGS took control of the German Passport Control Service. In 1976, the state police grades replaced the military rank structure and BGS training was modified to closely match that of the state police forces (Landespolizei). The West German Railway Police (Bahnpolizei), formerly an independent force, and the East German Transportpolizei were restructured under the BGS in 1990.

In July 2005, the BGS was renamed the Bundespolizei or BPOL (Federal Police) to reflect its transition to a multi-faceted federal police agency. The change also involved a shift to blue uniforms and livery for vehicles and helicopters. The German Interior Ministry reviewed the structure of the BPOL in 2007 and in March 2008 made the structure leaner to get more officers out of offices and onto patrol.

Vehicles

BMW standard patrol car
A Bundespolizei van

Bundespolizei vehicles have number plates that are based on the BP XX-YYY system. BP stands for Bundespolizei. Older vehicles may still have the BGS "BG" plates.

XX is a number from 10 to 55 indicating the type of vehicle:

  • 10 to 12: Motorcycle
  • 15 to 19: Car
  • 20 to 24: Four wheel drive car
  • 25 to 29: Car
  • 30 to 39: Medium four wheel drive vehicle
  • 40 to 49: Trucks and buses
  • 50 to 54: Armoured cars.
  • 55: Trailers

YYY is a combination of up to three numbers.

The Bundespolizei have favoured, and in some cases still favor (where the model is still in production), the following types of car:

BMW R 1150 RT motorcycle

Aircraft inventory

The Federal Police now has been reduced to three flight amenities pattern of 87 helicopters. This is the largest civilian helicopter fleet in Germany.[4]

A Eurocopter EC-135 of the Bundespolizei in the new livery
Bundespolizei Eurocopter Super Puma
Bundespolizei Eurocopter EC-155
Aircraft Type Versions In service Notes
Eurocopter EC-120 training helicopter EC 120 6 replaced Allouette II in training role
Bell 212 rescue- / transport helicopter Bell 212 5 to be replaced by 5 EC-155 in 2010-2012
Eurocopter Super Puma transport helicopter AS 332 L1 20 last Super Puma to arrive in 2010
Eurocopter EC 135 utility helicopter EC 135 42 replaced Allouette II, Bell UH-1D in liaison and MEDEVAC role
Eurocopter EC 155 transport helicopter EC 155 B 15 5 further EC-155 ordered to replace remaining Bell 212

Former aircraft

Aircraft Type Versions In service Notes
Aérospatiale Alouette II training and utility helicopter SA 318C - last Allouette left the fleet in 2007
Aérospatiale Puma transport helicopter SA 330 - last Puma left the fleet in 2008, replaced by Super Pumas
MBB Bo 105 rescue helicopter Bo 105CBS - replaced by Eurocopter EC-135T2i

Canine support

Approximately 500 working dogs are used in the Federal Police at present. Most of the dogs are German shepherds. Other dog breeds are also used such as malinois, Dutch shepherd, German wirehaired pointer, giant schnauzer and rottweiler. They accompany their handlers on daily missions in railway facilities, at airports, at the border or in physical security. Most working dogs live with the families of their handlers. Basic and advanced training is performed under the supervision of the Federal Police Academy at the Federal Police canine schools in Bleckede (Lower Saxony) and Neuendettelsau (Bavaria) where dogs and handlers go through patrol dog and explosive detection courses.

Ranks

See also

References

  1. ↑ OSCE Entry on BPOL http://polis.osce.org/countries/details.php?item_id=17#Country_Profile_Section_211
  2. ↑ Official BPOL news release on reorganisation (in German)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ http://www.bundespolizei.de/DE/06Die-Bundespolizei/Historie/historie_node.html

External links

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