''Reichskriminalpolizeiamt'' (RKPA), was

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's central criminal investigation department, founded in 1936 after the Prussian central criminal investigation department ''(Landeskriminalpolizeiamt)'' became the national criminal investigation department for Germany. It was merged, along with the secret state police department, the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

, as two sub-branch departments of the '' Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo). The SiPo was under

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

's overall command. In September 1939, with the founding of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the SiPo as a functioning state agency ceased to exist as a department and was merged into the RSHA.

Organization

The central organization contained a national surveillance register and eleven centers for national crimes. * Fraud * Drugs * Missing persons * Pornography * Trafficking * International pickpockets * Gambling * "

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

" * Serious violent crimes * Professional fraud * Professional burglary The regional and local organizations included: *14 ''Kriminalpolizeileitstellen'' (regional criminal investigation units). *51 ''Kriminalpolizeistellen'' (local criminal investigation units).

Merger

In 1936, the RKPA was formed after the Prussian central criminal investigation department ''(Landeskriminalpolizeiamt)'' became the national criminal investigation department for Germany. The state police agencies in Germany were then statutorily divided into the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

'' (uniformed police) and the '' Sicherheitspolizei'' (state security police; SiPo). The RKPA was merged, along with the secret state police, the ''

Geheime Staatspolizei The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

'' or Gestapo as two sub-branch departments of the SiPo.

was placed in overall command of the SiPo and its central command office, the '' Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei''. He was already head of the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) and Gestapo.

Arthur Nebe Arthur Nebe (; 13 November 1894 – 21 March 1945) was a German SS functionary who was key in the security and police apparatus of Nazi Germany and from 1941, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. Nebe rose through the ranks of the Prussia ...

was appointed the ''Reichskriminaldirektor'' of the ''Reichskriminalpolizeiamt'', and reported to Heydrich. In September 1939, the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) was created as the command organization for the various state investigation and security agencies. The ''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' was officially abolished and its departments were folded into the RSHA. The ''Reichskriminalpolizeiamt'' became Amt V (Department V), the ''

Kriminalpolizei ''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal polic ...

'' (Criminal Police) in the RSHA.Martin Eberhard (1999), ''Die Kriminalpolizei 1933-1939'' (Universität Konstanz, Philosophische Fakultät
2013-12-15. On 15 August 1944,

Friedrich Panzinger Friedrich Panzinger (1 February 1903 – 8 August 1959) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era. He served as the head of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) Amt IV A, from September 1943 to May 1944 and the commanding officer of three sub ...

took over as chief of Amt V in the RSHA until the end of the war in Europe.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichskriminalpolizeiamt Police of Nazi Germany Police units of Nazi Germany Reich Security Main Office