''Polizeiliche Schutzaufgaben Ausland der Bundespolizei'' (PSA BPOL) ("Police Protection Tasks Abroad of the Federal Police", formerly known as ''ASSIK'' for ''Arbeitsstab Schutzaufgaben in Krisengebieten'') is a specialized unit of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

tasked with providing personal security for German diplomatic missions in conflict regions.

Background

The protection of German diplomatic missions is one of the tasks of the Federal Police. In conflict, the diplomatic protection was carried out by the GSG9 with support of the Federal Criminal Police Office. In 2008, the Federal Ministry of the Interior tasked the Federal Police with reorganizing this form of protection in order to reduce the workload of the GSG9.

Organization

Due to the positive responses of the newly established ASSIK, the Federal Police decided to continue the unit as section 44 (''Referat 44''). * In January 2009 ASSIK is tasked with the protection of the embassy personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan * Since January 2010 ASSIK took over the protection of the embassy personnel in Bagdad, Iraq. In June 2012, section 44 was dissolved and the unit was attached under the command of the GSG9. Due to the continuously deteriorating security in various regions, PSA BPOL was tasked with an increasing number of deployments which include the embassies in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

or short-term missions such as in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

during the revolution of 2011 and

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

during the

2010 earthquake Earthquakes in 2010 resulted in nearly 165,000 fatalities. Most of these were due to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which caused an estimated 160,000 deaths, making it the 8th deadliest earthquake in recorded history. Other deadly quakes occurred in ...

. On August 1, 2017, the Department 11 (BPOLD 11) was formed as an umbrella organization for all specialized units of the Federal Police (i.e. GSG9 and aviation unit) which also included PSA.

Selection and Training

Any officer of the Federal German Police with at least 8 years of service may apply for the selection process. The selection process is followed by three months of specialized training which includes: * Personal security detail training * Defensive driving * Marksmanship * Combat casualty care Upon completion of the first sections of training a stronger emphasis is placed on missions in hazardous regions.

Deployments and cooperations

PSA officers deploy in rhythms of three months which are followed by periods of six months in Germany. The periods in Germany are used to train other PSA officers which are currently in pre-deployment training. One PSA officer was killed during his deployment in Sanaa (Yemen) in October 2013. The

2016 bombing of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif A group of three suicide attackers rammed a truck bomb into the wall of the List of diplomatic missions of Germany, German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan on 10 November 2016. Six people were killed (as well as two of the bombers) and ...

saw intense fighting for PSA officers in the attacked building. PSA cooperates closely with other units with similar tasks. An a result of the cooperation with the Dutch BSB, the EU-funded project ''Black Griffin'' was established which enables several special units tasked with close protection duties to cross-train and to cooperate. Other participants include

EKO Cobra EKO Cobra (; "Special Intervention Unit Cobra") is a police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is part of the Directorate for Special Units/Special ...

from Austria or the

Mobile Security Deployments Mobile Security Deployments (MSD) is a small specialized tactical unit within the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) of the United States Department of State. The MSD provides U.S. embassies and consulates with security support, protects the Se ...

from the United States.

Equipment

Aside from

ballistic vests Ballistics may refer to: Science * Ballistics, the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles ** Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes ** Internal ballistics, the study of the proce ...

, the PSA BPOL team are equipped with the following items:

References

External links

Official site

Recruitment site
{{Law enforcement in Germany GSG 9 Police units of Germany Non-military counterterrorist organizations Protective security units