Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)
The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (in German: ', abbreviated ') is the federal investigative police agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Hesse, and maintains major branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim near Bonn. It has been headed by Holger Münch since December 2014. Primary jurisdiction of the agency includes coordinating cooperation between the federation and state police forces; investigating cases of international organized crime, terrorism and other cases related to national security; counterterrorism; the protection of members of the constitutional institutions, and of federal  witnesses. When requested by the respective state authorities or the federal minister of the interior, it also assumes responsibility for investigations in certain large-scale cases. Furthermore, the Attorney General of Germany can direct it to investigate cases of special public interest. History. The Federal Criminal Police Office was established in 1951, and Wiesbaden, in the State of Hesse, was designated as its seat. The German police in general is – by definition of the German constitution – organized at the level of the states of the federation (e.g. North Rhine-Westphalia Police, Bavarian State Police, Berlin Police). Exceptions are the Federal  Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the German Parliament Police. Because of historic reasons all these federal police forces have a specific and limited legal jurisdiction. This is because after World War II, it was decided that there should not be another all-powerful police force like the Reich Security Main Office (consisting of the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt). Missions. The formation of the BKA is based on several articles of the German constitution, which give the federal government the exclusive ability to pass laws on the coordination of criminal policing in Germany. The jurisdictions of the BKA  are defined in the Bundeskriminalamtgesetz (BKAG): Organization. Since its establishment in 1951, the BKA's number of staff has grown substantially. This has notably been driven by the fight against the left-wing terrorism in the 1970s and the internationalization of crime in the decades thererafter. Thus its structure has been undergoing constant reorganized. The last major reform was implemented in July 2016 and resulted in the structure described below. The BKA is currently organized in eleven divisions. The President of the BKA is supported by its staff in the so-called "Leitungsstab" (which has not the status of a  division): Staff LS – Management. "(in German: Stab LS – Leitungsstab)" Division ZI – Central Information Management. "(in German: Abteilung ZI – Zentrales Informationsmanagment)" Division ST – State Security. "(in German: Abteilung ST – Polizeilicher Staatsschutz)" Division SO – Serious and Organized Crime. "(in German: Abteilung SO – Schwere und Organisierte Kriminalität)" Division SG – Protection Division. "(in German: Abteilung SG – Sicherungsgruppe)" The Protection Group protects the members of Germany's constitutional bodies and their foreign guests 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. Division OE – Operational Mission and Investigative Support. "(in German: Abteilung OE – Operative Einsatz- und Ermittlungsunterstützung)" Division KT – Forensic Science Institute. "(in German: Abteilung KT – Kriminalistisches Institut)" Division IT – Information Technology. "(in German: Abteilung IT – Informationstechnik)" Division IZ – International Coordination, Training and Research Center. "(in German: Abteilung IZ – Internationale Koordinierung, Bildungs- und Forschungszentrum)" Division ZV – Central and Administrative Affairs. "(in German: Abteilung ZV – Zentral- und Verwaltungsaufgaben)" Division TE - International terrorism, religious motivated extremism and terrorism. Established on November 1, 2019 the division TE consists of sections from the division ST who are tasked with the  collection of information and investigations in the fields of terrorism, religious motivated extremism and jihadism. Division CC - Cybercrime. The division's main tasks lie in investigations in the fields of cybercrime and computer-oriented crime Joint Centres and Task Forces. The BKA is part of several joint centers and platforms for combatting crime: For special cases the BKA creates task forces, which are called "Besondere Aufbauorganisation" (abbreviated: BAO). These task forces can integrate personnel from different divisions and state police forces as well. On some occasions international police forces participate too. Personnel. General structure. The BKA currently employs more than  7100 people (as of July 2020). More than 3800 are sworn law enforcement officers of various ranks including upper management. Furthermore, the BKA has more than 1100 civil servants (e.g. analysts as well as administrative or technical personnel). Another 2200 employees work for the BKA as scientists (forensic and natural sciences) and academics (criminology and law enforcement research). The BKA received more than 1,000 additional job positions in 2017. In the case of law enforcement officers, the BKA has employees in two career tracks of the German civil service. In the upper service (pay grades A9-A13g, comparable to  military officer ranks up to Captain) or in the higher service (pay grades A13h and above, comparable to military staff officer ranks of Major and above). In contrast, some state police forces in Germany such as Bavarian State Police and the Federal Police also have lower level career tracks with only two years of training and lower entrance requirements). Recruitment. The BKA recruits its personnel through different procedures: The civilian personnel (e.g. analysts, scientists, administrative personnel) is recruited similar to private companies. Potential law enforcement officers are recruited in a longer process. They have to pass a written and oral  exam (interview, group discussions, psychological test), a sport test (endurance, strength, reaction), a medical examination and security screening. Personnel of the upper service usually needs to have passed a university entrance qualification (usually Abitur or "Fachabitur"). Law enforcement personnel in the career path of the higher service generally need to have passed a master's degree or a second state examination for direct recruitment. As a rule, the few directly recruited law enforcement officers for this career path are usually lawyers. However, a large proportion of the officers in the BKA's higher service career path are promoted law enforcement  officers from the upper career path, who have proven themselves very well. Police training. After the law enforcement officer applicants for the upper career path pass the mentioned exams, they study at the Federal University for Applied Administrative Sciences (Departmental Branch of the Federal Criminal Police) for three years at different locations. While studying (law, criminal proceedings, constitutional law, criminology, police tactics, ethics) they also receive traditional police training like martial arts (Krav Maga, Jiu Jiutsu, Judo), shooting, basic driving and crime scene investigation. During their studies the police candidates complete an 8-month internship at a local state police  office and an 8-month internship in several investigative, support and analysis units of the BKA. Higher service personnel of the BKA study for two years at the German Police University in Münster (formerly the Police Command and Staff Academy). There they usually earn a Master of Arts degree in police management. They study together with the officers of this career of the Federal Police and the police forces of the federal states. Police ranks. The BKA has the same rank structure as the other police forces in Germany. As a criminal police branch, the different ranks are preceded by  the description "Kriminal-". The uniformed police forces normally have the description "Polizei-" like "Polizeikommissar". The rank of police candidates or recruits is "Kriminalkommissaranwärter (KKA)". The entry level after finishing the three year studies is "Kriminalkommissar", meaning Detective Inspector. The criminal police ranks are divided into the "Gehobener Dienst" (upper service) and "Höherer Dienst" (higher service). The upper service is the investigative level of the BKA. The higher service could be described as the middle management of the BKA. To enter the higher service members of the upper service have to pass an additional exam. After passing the test and acception  for the higher service, these recruits have to study an additional two years at police university in Münster. The higher service can also be entered by external, non-police personnel from selected academic fields. Leadership. The BKA is headed by three top executives, a president ("Präsident des Bundeskriminalamtes") and two vice-presidents ("Vizepräsidnet beim Bundeskriminalamt"), which in German BKA-lingo are referred to as ""Amtsleitung"", to be translated into 'management of the agency'. The president of the BKA is a political civil servant, who is appointed by the President of Germany upon recommendation from the Minister of the Interior and  the cabinet. He or she can be provisionally retired by the federal president, as stipulated in §54 of the Law on Federal Civil Servants. The post is graded as B9 in the payscale for federal civil servants (which is the same as a lieutenant general or a vice admiral in the armed forces). His or her vice-presidents, who to this day have mostly been career officials from the ranks, are in the B6 paygrade.Anlage I BBesG - Einzelnorm Equipment. Firearms. BKA police officers are equipped with the SIG Sauer P229 as a duty firearm. Selected units are also equipped  with Heckler & Koch MP5 machine pistols. Additionally the police officers are equipped with pepperspray and bulletproof vests. The special mission unit "MEK" is equipped with Glock pistols, Heckler & Koch MP5 and other weapons. The Protection Group is also allowed to carry additional military-grade weapons, e.g. the ASE unit or the protection details (only revolvers are allowed in certain foreign countries). The use of these weapons and force in general is controlled by a special law, the . BKA police officers are authorized to carry their duty firearms concealed while off-duty. Vehicles. The Protection Group of the BKA utilizes armoured  cars from different manufacturers for their protection mission, e.g. like Mercedez-Benz W221 (for the President of Germany), Audi A8 L or BMW.