Oberstleutnant is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish rank överstelöjtnant is a direct translation, as is the Finnish rank everstiluutnantti.
The Deutsche Volkspolizei, commonly known as the Volkspolizei or VoPo, was the national uniformed police force of the German Democratic Republic from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly-centralized agency responsible for most civilian law enforcement in East Germany, maintaining 257,500 personnel at its peak. It worked closely along with the Stasi to maintain public order and identify threats to the regime.
Bundesgrenzschutz is the former name of the German Bundespolizei. Established on 16 March 1951 as a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the BGS originally was primarily focused on protecting the West German borders. During their early days, BGS units had military structures, training and equipment. The law enforcement officers legally had military combatant status until 1994. A major part of the early BGS personnel joined the newly founded German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) in 1956 and thus significantly contributed to West Germany's rearmament. The BGS was renamed to Bundespolizei on 1 July 2005. The change of name did not have any effect on the legal status or competencies of the agency, but rather reflects its transition to a multi-faceted police agency with control over border, railway and air security.
Landespolizei is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany.
The Special Protection Group (SPG) is an agency of the Government of India whose sole responsibility is protecting the prime minister of India and, in some cases, his or her family. It was formed in 1988 by an Act of the Parliament of India. The SPG protects the prime minister at all times both in India and abroad, as well as the prime minister's immediate family members residing with them at their official residence. Family members, however, may decline security.
The Federal Police is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the German Federal Government, being subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. The Federal Police is primarily responsible for border protection and railroad and aviation/air security. In addition, the agency is responsible, among other tasks, for the protection of federal constitutional bodies. It provides the federal alert police and GSG 9 special police unit, which can also be used to support the federated states of Germany. Ordinary police forces, meanwhile, are under the administration of the individual German states (Bundesländer) and are known as the Landespolizei. In addition to the Federal Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the German Parliament Police exist as further police authorities at the federal level.
EKO Cobra is the tier one 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 Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system.
The Albanian State Police is the national police and law enforcement agency which operates throughout the Republic of Albania. The collapse of the Communist system and the establishment of political pluralism post-1991 brought important changes to the structure of the Albanian Police. The Ministry of Public Order and the General Directorate of Police were established in April 1991, and the new law of July 1991 established the Public Order Police. Nearly 80% of police manpower, i.e. personnel who had served under the previous system, were replaced by new recruits. On 4 November 1991, the Albanian Police was accepted as a member of Interpol.
Baden-Württemberg Police is a state law-enforcement agency in Germany. It numbers approximately 35,000 police officers and civilian employees.
Law enforcement in Austria is the responsibility of the Directorate General for Public Security, a subdivision of the Federal Ministry of the Interior located at Herrengasse 7 in Vienna. Over 20,000 police officers are on duty in the Federal Police at more than 1,000 police stations. On lakes and rivers the federal police has over 70 boats and other craft to act as the water police.
The Police of Denmark is the Danish National Police force, and the interior part of the Danish security forces in the Kingdom. The police are empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order, as well as being responsible for border control.
The LAPV Enok is a Light Armoured Patrol Vehicle of the Bundeswehr, mostly in use with the German Army. It is a significantly further developed Wolf SSA, based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
National Police Corps, colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is divided in ten regional units, two national units, the police academy, police services center, and national dispatch center cooperation. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the courts, and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different agencies, are also commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress. The police commissioner in the Netherlands is Janny Knol since March 1, 2024.
The municipal security guards existing in about 40 Austrian municipalities are police forces besides the Austrian Federal Police. They may also be called city security guard, municipal police (Gemeindepolizei), local police (Ortspolizei) or city police (Stadtpolizei). The larger of these forces form municipal guard corps with competences equal to the Federal Police. Some municipalities including most statutory cities are not allowed to maintain a guard corps.
The Police of Finland is a national government agency responsible for general police and law enforcement matters in the Republic of Finland. The Police of Finland is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and consists of the National Police Board, two national police units and 11 local police departments.
Waffenfarbe(n) or Egalisierungsfarbe(n) are colors that communicate the rank and arm of service for members of the police force or the Federal Army of the Republic of Austria (de: Bundesheer der Republik Österreich). They are also referred to as Kragenspiegel (English: collar patches or gorget patches).
The Wasserwerfer 10000 is a water cannon used for riot control developed by Rosenbauer on the Mercedes-Benz Actros chassis for the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) and Bereitschaftspolizei in Germany. Named for its 10,000 litres (2,600 US gal) water capacity, it is the successor to the Wasserwerfer 9000.
Director general is a senior rank in police forces used.
