Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)

(in German: Stab LS – Leitungsstab)

• Office of the BKA-President and the Vice-Presidents
• Press and media relations
• Law enforcement advisement, situation reporting
• Strategic affairs
• Resources, organization
• National cooperation

Wanted poster of the BKA

(in German: Abteilung ZI – Zentrales Informationsmanagment)

• 24/7 Operations Center
• Language and Translation Service
• Information and data services, police records administration
• Law enforcement information and message exchange
• Security screening / vetting
• Identification services
  • Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
  • DNA-Analytics Database
  • facial recognition system (GES)
  • Identikit pictures
• Fugitive and search services (International police cooperation, Legal assistance agreements)
  • Common search, public search/manhunt
  • Schengen Searches (SIRENE)
  • Interpol Searches
  • Target searches, manhunt

(in German: Abteilung ST – Polizeilicher Staatsschutz)

• Situational reporting, analysis
• Threat assessment
• Situation center State Security
• National Security, Politically motivated crime – Terrorism / Extremism
  • Left-wing and right-wing politically motivated crime, including the cooperation with the Z Commission
  • State sponsored terrorism
  • Politically motivated crime by foreigners
• Politically motivated arms crime, proliferation, CBRN arms
• Counter-espionage
• State sponsored cybercrime and cyber-espionage
• War crimes, Crimes against international criminal law and humanity (including German central office for international criminal law)
• Financial investigations State Security

(in German: Abteilung SO – Schwere und Organisierte Kriminalität)

• Property crime
• Counterfeiting
• Cybercrime
• Capital and major crimes, violent crimes, sexual offences, child abuse and child pornography (similar to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
• Organized and gang crimes
• Drug crimes
• Human trafficking
• Environmental crimes
• Crimes concerning arms and explosives
• Financial and Economic crime,
  • comprising a specialised unit for case-integrated financial investigations (VIVA), that also assumes the role of Asset Recovery Office Germany (police)[6] and a forensic auditing service (WPD)

(in German: Abteilung SG – Sicherungsgruppe)

• SG E (Operations)
  • Personal protection details (Protection of the German Chancellor and other cabinet members)
  • Foreign Dignitary protection (when invited by the federal government)
  • Reconnaissance and mobile support units
  • Special units like the ASE (Foreign Special Missions) which have similar tasks like the Secret Service Counter Assault Team
• SG F (Situation center)
  • Mission support, internal organization and logistics
  • Tactical Operations Center

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.

Arrest presentation of the BKA MEK

(in German: Abteilung OE – Operative Einsatz- und Ermittlungsunterstützung)

• Technical Operational Service (TOS)
  • Technology monitoring, logistics
    • Analysis of (new) technologies (evaluation for law enforcement use and criminal potential)
  • IT-Forensics
    • Case and mission support, e.g. at crime scenes and while conducting search warrants
    • Securing and processing of digital evidence
    • Research and development, live forensics
  • (Mass) Data analysis, Video Competence Center (CC Video)
  • Technical Mission Support, development of technical equipment
• Comptence Center for Information Technology Surveillance (CC ITÜ), Lawful interception
  • Telecommunications Surveillance (TKÜ)
  • Information Technology Surveillance (ITÜ)
• Mobile Mission Commando (MEK)
  • Plain-clothes SWAT unit specialised in surveillance and apprehension of fugitives in mobile situations
  • Central federal support group for major nuclear threat defense (ZUB)
• Adviser and Negotiation Group, e.g. for hostage-takings in foreign countries
• Witness protection program (federal level)

(in German: Abteilung KT – Kriminalistisches Institut)

• Disaster Victims Identification Task Force
  • The DVI-Team (in German: Identifizierungskommission, IdKo) is an event driven organisation of mainly forensic specialists dedicated to identification of disaster victims. The DVI's past missions include several airplane crashes, the Eschede train disaster and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
• Crime scene unit
• Bomb squad, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and improvised explosive ordnance disposal (IEDD), CBRN crime scenes
• Research and development on crime scene procedures
• Institution for technical and natural sciences, reporting for law enforcement, public prosecutors and courts
  • Ballicstics, arson and explosion investigations
  • DNA analytics, investigation of material and micro traces
  • Analysis of handwritings and documents, voice recognition
  • Central laboratory for physical, biological and chemical analysis, toxicology
  • Digital electronics, data reconstruction, video, picture, signal and krypto analysis

(in German: Abteilung IT – Informationstechnik)

• Information and communication management
  • common IT software, e.g. operation systems, office tools
  • law enforcement databases, e.g. various INPOL databases, Europol (SIENA), Schengen (SIRENE), anti-terror-database (ATD)
  • digital (police) radio management, mobile communications

(in German: Abteilung IZ – Internationale Koordinierung, Bildungs- und Forschungszentrum)

• EU and international cooperation, e.g. Europol and Interpol
• Coordination of BKA liaison officers at German embassies
• Consulting center for police legal questions, law enforcement and legal politics
• Police training (national/international)
  • Common training, management
  • Specialised criminal police training, police training
  • International police training and logistics support
• Institute of Law Enforcement Studies
  • Federal University, Departmental Branch of the Federal Criminal Police
  • Criminological and law enforcement research
    • Research and consulting center terrorism/extremism
    • Research and consulting center law enforcement statistics, dark field research
    • Research and consulting center cybercrime
    • Research and consulting center organized crime, economic crime, criminal prevention
• Public relations, internet editorial staff

(in German: Abteilung ZV – Zentral- und Verwaltungsaufgaben)

• Common human resources management
• Facility management
• Budget management
• Internal Organization
• Operations and internal security
• Prevention of corruption
• Logistics, car pool, workshops
• Legal Affairs

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.[7]

The division's main tasks lie in investigations in the fields of cybercrime and computer-oriented crime

• Investigations against individuals and networks which target high-profile targets in Germany
• Information gathering and analysis as assistance of ongoing investigations
• Combating cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure and institutions of the German government
• Consulting in the development of strategies and legal frameworks in combating cybercrime[8]

Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany) number of employees (red) and budget in million euro (black)

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).[14]

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[15] (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.[16]

Badge of a BKA police officer

Specimen of official BKA ID-badge

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.

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.[17] 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

Jörg Ziercke (2013)

• Dr. Max Hagemann (1951–1952)
• Dr. Hanns Jess (1952–1955)
• Reinhard Dullien (1955–1964)
• Paul Dickopf (1965–1971)
• Horst Herold (1971 – March 1981)
• Heinrich Boge (March 1981 – 1990)
• Hans-Ludwig Zachert (1990 – April 1996)
• Klaus Ulrich Kersten (April 1996 – February 26, 2004)
• Jörg Ziercke (February 26, 2004 – December 2014)
• Holger Münch (since 1 December 2014)

• Rolf Holle
• Werner Heinl
• Ernst Voss
• Günther Ermisch
• Reinhardt Rupprecht
• Herbert Tolksdorf (till 1983)
• Gerhard Boeden (1983 till 1987)
• Gerhard Köhler (1990 till 1993)
• Bernhard Falk (1993 till 2010)
• Rudolf Atzbach
• Jürgen Stock (von 2004 till 2014)
• Jürgen Maurer (2010 till März 2013)
• Peter Henzler (since April 2013)
• Michael Kretschmer (since March 2015)

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.

Armoured car of the BKA Protection Group, used for the President of Germany

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.