The State Criminal Police Office, or Landeskriminalamt (LKA) in German, is an independent law enforcement agency in all 16
German states that is directly subordinate to the state's ministry of the interior.
Missions
Investigations
LKAs supervise police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences, and coordinate investigations of serious crime involving more than one ''Präsidium'' (regional headquarters). They can take over investigative responsibility in cases of serious crime, e.g. drug trafficking, organized crime, environmental and
white-collar crime
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...
or extremist and terrorist offences.
Crime analysis
Each ''Landeskriminalamt'' is also a modern central office for information, analyzing
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
intelligence from home and abroad and transmitting it to police stations. It collates data on criminal offences and offenders in crime statistics that are used as a basis for new strategies, policy decisions, and legislative initiatives. It also analyzes certain offense areas, evaluates the police measures executed in each case, forecasts expected tendencies, and describes events in annual reports.
Forensics
The LKA maintains forensic equipment for central examination of evidence using the latest scientific methods (e.g. DNA analysis,
Automatic Fingerprint Identification System).
Special missions
LKAs also coordinate support for local police in hostage, kidnapping, and blackmail situations and provide experts in such cases, e.g., the SWAT team ''
Spezialeinsatzkommando'', the negotiation group or bomb disposal experts. It is also the central office for physical security technology and crime prevention, and coordinates state anti-drug programs.
See also
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Crime in Germany
Crime in Germany is handled by the German police forces and other agencies.
Recent trends Statistics
The official statistics ''PKS 2018'' of 2018 by the Bundeskriminalamt for the year 2017 shows an increase of 39.9% for resistance and attac ...
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State bureau of investigation
A state bureau of investigation (SBI) is a state-level detective agency in the United States. They are plainclothes agencies which usually investigate both criminal and civil cases involving the state and/or multiple jurisdictions. They also typ ...
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Bundeskriminalamt
External links
Polizei.de
''Bundeskriminalamt'' - German Federal Investigation Bureau
Baden-Württemberg ''Landeskriminalamt''
Bavarian ''Landeskriminalamt''
Berlin ''Landeskriminalamt''
Bremen ''Landeskriminalamt''
Hessen ''Landeskriminalamt''
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ''Landeskriminalamt''
Lower Saxony ''Landeskriminalamt''
North Rhine-Westphalia ''Landeskriminalamt''
Saxony ''Landeskriminalamt''
Saxony-Anhalt ''Landeskriminalamt''
Thuringia ''Landeskriminalamt''
{{Law enforcement in Germany
Police units of Germany