Stadtpolizei were

municipal police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive fundi ...

forces of some

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The term ''Stadtpolizei'' is still used in some German

states 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 ...

to denote local order enforcement offices of municipal authorities with limited police powers.

History

After 1945, there were many local and city police forces, such as the Munich Police Force, throughout Germany. Small towns and rural areas that could not or did not want to afford their own police force were covered by the ''Landpolizei'' which was a rural police force organised by the state government. This decentralised system was forced by the US/British-Military Governments after World War II. However, it was not effective in fighting the rise of

organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

( Baader-Meinhof/RAF). So the local and city police forces were merged with the rural

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

s (German: ''Landpolizei'', ''Landjägerei'' or ''Gendarmerie'') to form the state police forces (German: ''

Landespolizei ; ) is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany. History The of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when Germany united into a single country in 1871, under Otto von Bismarck. Various ...

'') in every single state, during the major reorganisation of the German police in the mid-seventies. Wappen Stadtpolizei Frankfurt

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, municipalities with a population of at least 5,000 were allowed to have their own police forces. A total of 151 city police forces existed in Bavaria. The city police forces, including the Munich city police, were consolidated into

Bavarian State Police The Bavarian Police () is the state police force of the German state of Bavaria under the umbrella of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. It has approximately 33,500 armed officers and roughly 8,500 other civilian employees. Organization Th ...

in 1975.

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, cities with population at least 75,000 were allowed to have their own municipal police forces. In 1968, the population requirement was increased to 250,000, thus restricting it to the three largest cities of the state -

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

. Mannheim and Karlsruhe police forces were consolidated into the

Baden-Württemberg Police Baden-Württemberg State Police is the state police force of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It numbers approximately 35,000 police officers and civilian employees. The four regional police authorities (called ''Landespolizeidirektionen ...

in 1972, and Stuttgart in 1973.

Municipal law enforcement

City police forces

In few states however (for example

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

, Baden-Württemberg) municipal police officers do have the same rights, powers and obligations like their counterparts in the state police. This is particularly the case in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Municipal Police Officers in Baden-Württemberg can use force, make an arrest, regulate traffic, ask for identification, search a person, investigate misdemeanours and contravention for the state prosecutor among others. The tasks of a municipal police force depends on the size of the municipality's territory and the number of inhabitants in which it is operating. The so-called "police authority" (German: ''Polizeibehörde'') of a town or city can transfer more tasks and responsibilities to its police force, only if approved from the regional government (Regierungspräsidium). In the state of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, communities are allowed to implement and maintain a city or community police force (German: ''Stadtpolizei'' or ''Kommunalpolizei'') for general law enforcement duties. Kommunalpolizei Darmstadt01

Municipal order enforcement

Currently, many cities in Germany have established local order enforcement offices. Depending on each state's laws, under different terms like ''Ordnungsamt'' (order enforcement office), ''Kommunaler Ordnungsdienst'' (municipal order enforcement service), ''Städtischer Ordnungsdienst'' (city order enforcement service), ''Gemeindevollzugsdienst'' (municipal code enforcement office). These city employees mainly wear police-like uniforms but some wear labelled jackets and plain clothes. They are the municipal administration's eyes and ears on the street. Depending on each state's laws, these local employees could be armed or unarmed. Mostly they are charged with monitoring municipal by-laws and laws that fall under the responsibility of municipalities, which include monitoring the conduct of shop owners, sanitation inspections, veterinary inspections and minor

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary of ...

s and

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

s such as illegal parking,

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

ing, state and local dog regulations etc. They usually only hand out warnings and fines and can only perform a

citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – a person who is not acting as a sworn Police officer, law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in wh ...

as any other citizen can. If they see any major crimes they are required to call the state police.

References

External links