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Federal Police Agencies in Germany
Established in 1951, the Federal Border Force (Bundesgrenzschutz--BGS)
was the first federal police organization permitted by the Allied occupation
authorities. During the early 1950s, there were frequent incidents on
the borders with East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and the occupation authorities
became convinced of the need for a competent border police. Even though
the BGS is organized along paramilitary lines, that is, in battalions,
companies, and platoons, and is armed as light infantry, it remains a
police force controlled by the Ministry of Interior rather than by the
Ministry of Defense. The strength of the BGS was 24,000 in early 1995.
The BGS is equipped with armored cars, machine guns, automatic rifles,
tear gas, hand grenades, rifle grenades, and antitank weapons. All personnel
on border duty wear 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 (Bundesgrenzschutz-See) of approximately
550 members forms a part of the BGS. It is equipped with fourteen large
patrol craft and several helicopters.
In addition to controlling Germany's border, the BGS serves as a federal
reserve force to deal with major disturbances and other emergencies beyond
the scope of Land police. The BGS guards airports and foreign
embassies, 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 BGS
task force known as Special Group 9 (BGS-9) was formed to deal with terrorist
incidents, especially hostage situations. The BGS-9 won world attention
when it rescued eighty-six 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
is green, but field units also wear camouflage fatigues and, at times,
steel helmets.
Another central police agency, the Federal Criminal Investigation Office
(Bundeskriminalamt--BKA), with approximately 3,000 agents, operates nationwide
from headquarters in Wiesbaden. Similar in some respects to the United
States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the BKA is a clearinghouse for
criminal intelligence records. It provides assistance to Länder
in forensic matters, research, and criminal investigations. It is also
the national point of contact for the International Criminal Police Organization
(Interpol). The BKA enters cases only when requested by Land
authorities, or in cases involving two or more Laender. The BKA
is involved in combating various terrorist gangs, which have plagued the
country since the 1960s.
Two federal agencies involved in security matters are the Federal Intelligence
Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst--BND) and the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz--BfV).
Based in Munich, the BND is restricted to the investigation of threats
originating abroad. 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. The BfV is primarily
a domestic intelligence-gathering service 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 on international crime, drug trafficking, terrorism,
and other illegal activities. Its main office is in Cologne. Similar offices
exist in each Land; although they cooperate closely with the
federal office, they operate under the control of Land authorities.
* Federal
Police Agencies
* Land Police Agencies
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