Berlin Police
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Berlin Police Der Polizeipräsident in Berlin |
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Berlin Police car in Friedrichshain
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 23 June 1848 |
| Employees | 22,000 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
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| Location of Berlin shown in Germany | |
| Size | 891.85 km² |
| Population | 3,479,740 |
| Governing body | Senate of Berlin |
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| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Platz der Luftbrücke 6 12101 Berlin |
| Agency executive | Klaus Kandt, Polizeipräsident |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Berlin Police (German: Der Polizeipräsident in Berlin -The Police Chief of Berlin-, or commonly Berliner Polizei) is the German Landespolizei force for the city-state of Berlin. Law enforcement in Germany is divided between federal and state (Land) agencies.
The Berlin Police is headed by the Police President Klaus Kandt. His deputy is Police Vice-President Margarete Koppers. They are supported in the management of the force by the Staff Office of the Police President, the Commanders of the six Local Divisions, the Division for Central Tasks, the Criminal Investigation Department and the Central Services Division.
The „Royal Prussian Police“ was founded in 1809.
In March 1848 Berlin was one of the places were 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 Freiher von Minutoli asked the Prussian army for help. They send two guard cavallery regiments (the Regiment Gardes du Corps (cuirassiers), the 1. Garde-Dragoner Regiment "Königin Victoria von Großbritannien und Irland" (dragoons)), and three guard infantry regiments (1. and 2. Garderegiment zu Fuss, Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr.1). Approximately 230 citizens were shot or killed by saber because the guard troops had the order "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 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.
In 1936, during the Nazi regime it was dissolved like all other German police forces, and absorbed into the Ordnungspolizei or 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 embraced virtually all of the Third Reich's law-enforcement and emergency response organizations, including fire brigades, coast guard, civil defense, and even night watchmen. It was under the overall command of Heinrich Himmler.
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Wikipedia