- Description of Legal Entity
- Main Tasks
- Mr Michael Schwob
- Dr Jens Tölle
- Mr Stefan Unger
- Relevant Projects
Description of Legal Entity
The German Federal Police is a specialized force responsible for border protection, railway policing and aviation security.
The federal structure of the Federal Republic of Germany gives the 16 states (Länder) the authority to maintain their own police forces within their territory, along with the right to pass legislation and exercise police authority. At the same time, the Basic Law provides for originary federal authority in central areas of law enforcement.
Due to this division of authority, Germany has 16 state police forces and two federal law enforcement agencies, one of which is the Federal Police.
The Federal Police carry out a wide variety of law enforcement tasks, in particular border protection, railway policing and aviation security, as assigned by Germany’s Basic Law and federal law, including the Act on the Federal Police, the Residence Act, the Asylum Procedure Act, and the Act on Aviation Security.
With its approximately 40,000 staff, including more than 30,000 highly trained law enforcement officers, the Federal Police is an extremely effective police service which plays an important role in maintaining internal security in the Federal Republic of Germany and Europe.