The Directorate General for Public Security (''Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit'', "GDföS") is the governing body of general

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and a division of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. It oversees the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

, the Criminal Intelligence Service, the Intelligence Directorate, the

EKO Cobra EKO Cobra (german: Einsatzkommando Cobra; "Task Force Cobra") is the police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is directly under the control of the ...

, and the Aerial Police. The Directorate General is headquartered in the Palais Modena,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

History

the Directorate General was first established in as a division of the Chancellery. After the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, Heinrich Himmler ordered the organization's dissolution. Directorate General was restored following the end of Nazi rule but did not gain back control of most police forces until Ensuing the Ibiza affair in 2019, Interior Minister

Herbert Kickl Herbert Kickl (born 19 October 1968) is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as Minister of the Interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2 ...

moved to appoint

Peter Goldgruber Peter Goldgruber (born 20 October 1960) is Austrian functionary who served as the first General Secretary of the Interior, General Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior (Austria), Ministry of the Interior, he assumed his office after the first ...

, with whom he had close ties, Director General on 20 May. The affair marked the likely collapse of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and as the Director General is a career civil servant position that transcends political leadership changes, appointing Goldgruber would have allowed Kickl and his party to retain control over law enforcement while no longer being in power themselves. However, Goldgruber's appointment required presidential confirmation (otherwise he would only hold the position's powers and duties but not the position itself) but President Van der Bellen declined to approve the appointment. On 22 May, Van der Bellen removed Kickl from office on the request of Chancellor

Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is a former Austrian politician who twice served as chancellor of Austria, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021. Kurz was born and raised in ...

and Kickl's successor

Eckart Ratz Eckart Ratz (born 28 June 1953) is an Austrian jurist who served as a judge and the president of the Judiciary of Austria, Supreme Court of Justice. From 2011 to 2012 he was a vice president of the Supreme Court. On 22 May 2019, he was appointed ...

dismissed Goldgruber a few days later.

Agencies

Federal Police

The Federal Police is the primary civilian

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

of Austria, responsible for ordinary policing and

border control Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

. It succeeded the

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a 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" (literally, ...

, the Guard Corps, the Detective Corps, and the urban police forces in 2005. The Federal Police is not an actual government authority, but the aggregate of various geographically based police forces. It is organised into nine police directorates, one for each

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, and a dozen autonomous police units. Police commands serve as the elementary divisions of the Federal Police and operate on

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

or precinct level; they either report to one of the nine police directorates or to a precinct authority. The police commands of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the state capitals, and the other major urban centers are subject to the operational direction of the police directorates, while most rural area police commands serve under precinct authorities. The police directorates are headed by commissioners who report directly to the minister of the interior.

EKO Cobra

The Cobra Special Operations Command, abbreviated EKO Cobra, is the main

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...

of Austria. It is responsible for

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

situations, highly dangerous criminal apprehensions,

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

, the protection of high-profile politicians, and providing air marshals for commercial flights.

Intelligence Directorate

The Intelligence Directorate, officially the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (, DSN) is the primary civilian

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...

of Austria. Established on December 1, 2021, in order to replace the old BVT service. It is led by Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.

History

The decision to create the DSN came after the BVT, the predecessor intelligence agency, failed to prevent the 2020 Vienna attack, despite numerous warnings and surveillance information.Austria plans intelligence agency reforms after attack
/ref> The current director of the DSN is Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, an Austrian police officer of Jordanian descent.

Criminal Investigative Office

The Criminal Investigative Office is a specialized police agency that investigates certain types of

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

. It has nationwide criminal operations jurisdiction and about 900 employees. It also serves as the national bureau for Europol and the

Schengen Information System The Schengen Information System (SIS) is a governmental database maintained by the European Commission. The SIS is used by 31 European countries to find information about individuals and entities for the purposes of national security, border c ...

as well as a regional outpost for

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

Aerial Police

The Aerial Police is a complementary law enforcement agency that conducts airborne operations to support the

with criminal matters, major events, and traffic control. It also assists fire fighters when needed and carries out search and rescue missions for the Civil Aviation Authority. The Aerial Police is also in close cooperation with the European border agency

Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex (from French: ''Frontières extérieures'' for "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, exercising in coordination with the borde ...

References

External links

*
Website of the Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit
on the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. *
Badges and insignia of the General Director for Public Security
{{DEFAULTSORT:Directorate General for Public Security Law enforcement agencies of Austria Anti–child pornography organizations