The Berlin Police (; formerly , ) is the force for the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany.

Law enforcement in Germany Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Policing has always been a responsibility of the German states even after 1871 when Unification of G ...

is divided between federal and

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

() agencies. The Berlin Police is headed by the ('Chief of Police'), Dr. Barbara Slowik. Her deputy is Police Vice-Chief Marco Langner. They are supported in the management of the force by the Staff Office of the Police Chief, the commanders of the five Local Divisions, the Division for Central Tasks, the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Central Services Division and the Academy of Police.

History

The Royal Prussian Police of Berlin was founded on 25 March 1809, with Justus Gruner as the first

chief of police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

. In March 1848, Berlin was one of the places where the Revolution of 1848 took place (also called the March Revolution). At this time, just a small number of police officers (approx. 200 officers for 400,000 citizens) with limited authority, the so-called ''Revierpolizei'' (literally "police station police"), existed. To fight the revolution, the chief of police, police commissioner Dr. Julius Freiherr von Minutoli, asked the Prussian Army for help. They sent two guard cavalry regiments (the ''Regiment Gardes du Corps'' cuirassiers, and the ''1. Garde-Dragoner Regiment Königin Victoria von Großbritannien und Irland'' dragoons), and three guard infantry regiments (the ''1. und 2. Garderegiment zu Fuss'', and the ''Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr.1''). Approximately 230 citizens were shot or killed by sabers, because the guard troops had orders to ''immer feste druff'' ("strike them hard"). After a couple of days, the troops withdrew and a militia (''Bürgerwehr'') with a strength of 20,000 men was founded. In short, the militia was worthless. Shortly after the revolution, King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the th ...

founded the ''Königliche Schutzmannschaft zu Berlin'' in June 1848. It was the first modern police force in Germany from the viewpoint of then and today. It consisted of 1 ''Oberst'' (colonel), 5 ''Hauptleuten'' (captains), 200 ''Wachtmeister'' (sergeants) and 1,800 ''Schutzleute'' (officers), 40 of them mounted. After the German Revolution of 1918-19 at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the police fell under the control of the far-left USPD politician Emil Eichhorn. However, the government of the

Free State of Prussia The Free State of Prussia (, ) was one of the States of the Weimar Republic, constituent states of Weimar Republic, Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it cont ...

voted to replace him with the Majority Social Democrat

Eugen Ernst Eugen Oswald Gustav Ernst (20 September 1864 – 31 May 1954) was a German Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democrat and Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Socialist politician. His appointment as President of the Police of Berlin in J ...

, an event which led to the Spartacist uprising of 1919. Under the Weimar Republic, the Berlin Police was often more willing to suppress far-left

paramilitary groups A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

such as the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

's Roter Frontkämpferbund than right-wing ones such as the NSDAP's

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

or the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...

's Der Stahlhelm. In the Blutmai violence of 1–3 May 1929, the Berlin Police suppressed a Communist

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

demonstration, resulting in the deaths of about 30 civilians. After seizing control of Prussia in the 1932 Preußenschlag,

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and army officer. A national conservative, he served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as Vice-Chancell ...

dismissed Police Chief Albert Grzesinski for his Social Democratic loyalties and replaced him with Kurt Melcher, with the political police section falling under the control of

Rudolf Diels Rudolf Diels (16 December 1900 – 18 November 1957) was a German civil servant and first head of the Gestapo from 1933–34. He obtained the rank of SS-''Oberführer'' and was a protégé of Hermann Göring. Diels was forced from the Gestapo ...

. After

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's rise to power and the beginning of the ''

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term (), meaning "synchronization" or "coordination", was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler—leader of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany—established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all ...

'' in 1933,

political dissidents Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Expressions of dissent may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence.Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

were dismissed from the service through the

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was enacted by the Nazi Party, Na ...

. Diels' Berlin political police, as well as other the

Prussian Secret Police The Prussian Secret Police () was the secret police of Prussia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1851 the Police Union of German States was set up by the police forces of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and Württem ...

, were merged into the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

under

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

's command. Göring also issued an order to police forces in Prussia, including Berlin, recognizing right-wing paramilitaries such as the SS, the SA, and Der Stahlhelm as ''

Hilfspolizei The ''Hilfspolizei'' (''HiPo'' or ''Hipo''; meaning "auxiliary police") was a short-lived auxiliary police force in Nazi Germany in 1933. The term was later semi-officially used for various auxiliary organizations subordinated to the ''Ordnungsp ...

'' with authority to help police arrest and harass political dissidents and imprison them in

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

. The Berlin Police were placed under the authority of Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff, a fanatical former '' SA-Obergruppenführer''. The Nazi regime won the support of the Berlin Police by praising police in official propaganda. In 1936, the Berlin police force was dissolved, like all other German police forces, and absorbed into the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...

'' (Orpo). The Orpo was established as a centralized organisation uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed forces that had been organised on a state-by-state basis. Eventually, the Orpo absorbed virtually all of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

's law enforcement and emergency response organisations, including fire brigades, coast guard, civil defense, and even night watchmen. It was under the overall command of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

. In Berlin after the passage of

Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law ...

, the Berlin Orpo helped segregate Jews through heavy-handed enforcement of traffic laws. They also assisted the SA in the

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

pogrom. During the Allied occupation of Berlin, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the Communist

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

took control of the Berlin Police, and the politicization of the police led to three-quarters of the police to switch to a new authority in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

Police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

by East Berlin Police against the Berlin city council and

anti-Communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

demonstrators in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

led to the formal partition of the city. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

(1989) and the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

(1990), the West Berlin police, with 20,000 employees, and the East Berlin police, with 12,000 employees, were merged under the direction of the West Berlin chief Georg Schertz. Approximately 2,300 officers changed assignments from the West to the East, and approximately 2,700 from the East to the West. About 9,600 East Berlin officers were checked for being possible collaborators of the MfS (Stasi). 8,544 of them were cleared, while 1,056 were not. Approximately 2,000 were retired or resigned on their own. The law on the '' Freiwillige Polizei-Reserve Berlin'' (volunteer police reserve) of 25 May 1961 in West Berlin created a paramilitary organisation to protect important infrastructure like

power plants A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many power ...

and drinking water supplies. Since the 1980s, it became more of a branch in which citizens were able to voluntarily support the Schupo in daily service. It was disbanded in 2002.

Police chiefs

List of police chiefs since 1809:

1809–1920

Greater Berlin: 1920–1948

Divided Berlin: 1948–1990

Since 1990

Organisation

Berlin Police is headed by the Police President and divided into 4 main directorates: *Berlin Police Directorate *Criminal Investigation Department *Police Academy *Central Services Directorate

Berlin Police Directorate

Berlin Police Directorate is divided into 5 local directorates (''Direktion''), one Division Operations/Traffic Management and one Division Central Special Services.

Local directorates

Each local directorate is responsible for one to three Berliner districts: *Direktion 1:

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subd ...

Pankow Pankow () is the second largest and most populous Boroughs and quarters of Berlin, borough of the German capital Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weissensee (Berlin), W ...

*Direktion 2:

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf () is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf. Overview Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the ...

, Mitte West *Direktion 3:

Marzahn-Hellersdorf Marzahn-Hellersdorf () is the tenth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Geography It ...

Treptow-Köpenick Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Overview Among ...

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

*Direktion 4:

Tempelhof-Schöneberg Tempelhof-Schöneberg () is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg. Situated in the south of the city it shares borders with the boroughs of Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in ...

Steglitz-Zehlendorf Steglitz-Zehlendorf () is the sixth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf, Berlin, Zehlendorf. Home to the Free University of Berlin, the Be ...

Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...

*Direktion 5:

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg () is the second Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg. The historic Oberbaum Bridge, formerly ...

, Mitte East Each Direktion had several police stations ("Abschnitte", all in all 38) where the patrol car staff (Schutzpolizei/Schupo) is located. Other sub departments of a Direktion are (not all listed): *Referat Verbrechensbekämpfung - detective branch (Kriminalpolizei/Kripo) and plainclothes units of the Schupo. *Referat Zentrale Aufgaben - central services: **Verkehrsdienst - traffic police **Direktionshundertschaft - a company of special police **Diensthundführer - K9

Other divisions

The Division Operations/Traffic Management has the following subbranches: *''

Bereitschaftspolizei The ''Bereitschaftspolizei'' (literally 'Readiness Police'/On-Call Police (Reserve); effectively riot police), abbreviated BePo, are the support and rapid reaction units of Germany's police forces. They are composed of detachments from the Fe ...

'' (BePo) – Uniformed units (two battalions, each with 4 companies and an engineer unit) that provide additional manpower for the Schupo, natural disasters, sporting events, traffic control or demonstrations (riot/crowd control). *''

Wasserschutzpolizei The (, WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German language, German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the (State Police). The Federal Po ...

'' (WSP) – The river police for patrolling rivers, lakes, and harbours. *''Zentraler Verkehrsdienst'' – The

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

with many sub departments for (just examples): Honor escorts during state visits, Autobahnpolizei (highway police), tracing of vehicles without insurance or known drivers without a license, specialized units for the controlling of vehicles with hazardous materials, *''Diensthundführer'' – K9 *''Polizeihubschrauberstaffel Berlin'' (PHuSt BE) – The Berlin Police run a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter together with the Bundespolizeipräsidium Berlin. The Division Central Special Services has the following subbranches: *'' Objektschutz'' – The Berlin Police has a special branch for the guarding of buildings, especially embassies or watch over and transport convicts. These non-sworn officers are employees with limited police authority. They are armed and wear the same uniform as the Schupo but different rank insignia. *'' Gefangenenwesen'' – Custody

Criminal Investigation Department

The Criminal Investigation Department (''

Landeskriminalamt The State Criminal Police Office, or Landeskriminalamt ((LKA) ) in German, is an independent law enforcement agency in all 16 German states that is directly subordinate to the state's ministry of the interior. Missions Investigations LKAs sup ...

'' - LKA) is responsible for investigating the most serious crimes (exclusive tasks of the LKA like crimes against the constitution, organised crime, youth gangs or political motivated crime) and works closely with the six local directorates. The LKA supervises police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences, and coordinates investigations involving more than one ''Direktion''. Al-Quds 2014 Berlin 20140725 160547

Dedicated to the LKA: *''

Spezialeinsatzkommando ''Spezialeinsatzkommando'' (SEK, "Special Task Force") are police tactical units of each of the 16 German Landespolizei, state police forces that specialize in a quick response with SWAT unit tactics to emergencies. Along with the ''Mobiles Einsa ...

'' (SEK) - The

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

teams of the German state police. *''Mobiles Einsatzkommando'' (MEK) - The MEKs are plainclothes teams of the LKA with special tasks like mentioned above and special manhunt units *''Personenschutzkommando'' – Personal security plainclothes unit, protecting politicians and VIPs

Police Academy

The general education and training are in charge through the

police academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to o ...

in Berlin.

Central Services Directorate

The Central Services Directorate is responsible for all administrative and logistical support, like financial services, HR, facility management or ICT.

Workforce

* 18,558 police officers in uniform and plain clothes (2023) * 2,543 security guards, prison-officers and staff in other law-enforcement related areas (2023) * 3,085 administrative staff, including management and clerical staff, technical staff and scientists of various disciplines (2023) * 3,022 apprentices and trainees (2023) * 2,797 vehicles (2023) * 1.957 Billion Euro annual budget (2023)

References

External links

Berlin Police official website
* Berlin Police logo (from De.wiki) *''Berlin: Metropolis of crime 1918 - 1933'
Part 1

Part 2
(warning: graphic depiction of murder and other violence), a

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

English television documentary discussing advances in police methods and forensic technology, corruption in the police force, and selected investigations in Berlin during the early

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. {{Authority control

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

State law enforcement agencies of Germany 1809 establishments in Prussia Organisations based in Berlin Organizations established in 1809