Германия Федералдық Қылмыстық Полиция Агенттігі

German federal investigative police agency

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (Bundeskriminalamt, , 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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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 on the same career path of the Federal Police and the police forces of the federal states.

The BKA is headed by three top executives, a chief (Präsident des Bundeskriminalamtes) and two vice chiefs (Vizepräsidnet beim Bundeskriminalamt), which in German BKA lingo are referred to as "Amtsleitung", to be translated into 'agency management'. The chief 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 chiefs, who to this day have mostly been career officials from the ranks, are in the B6 paygrade. Anlage I BBesG Einzelnorm

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 UZwG. BKA police officers are authorized to carry their duty firearms concealed while off duty.

The Protection Group of the BKA utilizes armoured cars from different manufacturers for their protection mission, e. g. like Mercedes Benz W221 (for the President of Germany), Audi A8 L or BMW.