Rüdiger Butte (17 May 1949, Lüthorst,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– 26 April 2013,

Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...

) was a German

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

( SPD) who was director of the State Office of Criminal Investigation of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Hamelin-Pyrmont Hameln-Pyrmont is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Schaumburg, Hanover, Hildesheim and Holzminden, and by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Lippe ...

from August 2005.

Career

Born on may 17, 1949 in Lüthorst, in the former district of , he started his career in 1974 as a

. His training as a

police commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

took him through

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

, Huntlosen (

Großenkneten Großenkneten is a municipality in the district of Oldenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Großenkneten is one of the largest municipalities in Germany, in terms of its area, and is situated between the rivers Hunte and Lethe, in the land ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, and finally

Hann Münden Hann may refer to: People * Adam Hann-Byrd (born 1982), American actor * Allie Hann-McCurdy (born 1987), Canadian ice dancer * Chris Hann (born 1953), British social anthropologist * David Hann (born 1952), American politician * Della Hann, Am ...

. After a short period as ''Kriminalkommissar'' (detective inspector) in

Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...

he was promoted by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

to become a case worker of the

Kriminalpolizei ''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal polic ...

in 1985. The Kriminalpolizei is the criminal investigation agency within the german police forces. Working here, he primarily focused on the fight against organised crime. He was the Director of the

Holzminden Holzminden (; ) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden (district), Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Polizeiinspektion (term used in Lower Saxony for police station) for almost a year after a reformation of the Lower Saxony police in 1994, to which he contributed in various topics. From 1995 to 1999, he acted as the representative of the director of the police department for the Hanover

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

(governmental district). On 18th April, 2001 he became director of the

Landeskriminalamt 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 sup ...

of Lower Saxony. He held this office until July 2005. He was a councillor in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district from August of that year until his death.

Death

On 26 April 2013, Butte was shot in front of the district building, by a 74 year-old man. The man came from the same

as Butte and later committed suicide. He had a background of disputes with authorities. Butte was married and had two children and 5 grandchildren. A non-profit educational institution associated with the Social Democratic Community for Local Politics in Lower Saxony (''Sozialdemokratische Gemeinschaft für Kommunalpolitik Niedersachsen e.V.'') was founded in November 2021, in honor of him.

References

1949 births 2013 deaths Deaths by firearm in Germany German murder victims People murdered in Germany German police officers 2013 murders in Germany {{Germany-SPD-politician-stub