Law enforcement in Austria

Last updated

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.[ citation needed ] On lakes and rivers the federal police has over 70 boats and other craft to act as the water police.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Federal Police Volkswagen Sharan Police car Austria 01.JPG
Federal Police Volkswagen Sharan
Military Police Volkswagen Golf Military Police Austria Patrol Vehicle 25102019.jpg
Military Police Volkswagen Golf

Law enforcement agencies

Federal

Ministry of Defence

Financial Police Skoda Octavia 2016.06.30 Dienstfahrzeug der Finanzpolizei Osterreich.jpg
Financial Police Skoda Octavia

Ministry of Finance

Armoured vehicle Sonderwagen 4 of the Federal Police Sonderwagen 4 Police Austria25102019a.jpg
Armoured vehicle Sonderwagen 4 of the Federal Police

Ministry of the Interior

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for:

Standard vehicle of the Justizwache Justizwache vehicle.jpg
Standard vehicle of the Justizwache

Ministry of Justice

State

In general, the nine States of Austria do not operate state law enforcement agencies, except in their specific areas of competence, namely nature conservation and wildlife protection.

Municipalities

Some Austrian municipalities operate a form of municipal law enforcement agency. In some municipalities, this is known as the City Police (German : Stadtpolizei), or sometimes Community Police (German : Gemeindepolizei) or Community Security Guard (German : Gemeindesicherheitswache). In others, responsibility for policing lies with the federal government and municipalities cannot call these agencies "police", instead naming them "order offices" (German : Ordnungsamt, Ordnungswache), similar in function to a bylaw enforcement officer or code enforcement. In some cases, these organisations are established as private corporations, owned by the municipality, such as the Security Service (German : Ordnungsdienst) of Linz.

Requirements for police officers

Police officers in Austria must meet certain requirements. These requirements include being at least 18 years of age, Austrian citizenship, an ability to act (not burdened by physical disability), impeccable reputation, Class B driver's licence, if conscripted to the armed forces, to have completed that conscription, and a swimming badge to prove swimming ability. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast guard</span> Maritime security organization

A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue without law enforcement authority. In most countries, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from those of the navy and the transit police, while in certain countries they have similarities to both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in India</span> Law and order system of india

Law enforcement in India is imperative to keep justice and order in the nation. Indian law is enforced by a number of agencies. Unlike many federal nations, the constitution of India delegates the maintenance of law and order primarily to the states and territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security police</span> Law enforcement agencies responsible for protecting specific properties

Security police usually describes a law enforcement agency which focuses primarily on providing security and law enforcement services to particular areas or specific properties. They may be employed by governmental, public, or private institutions. Security police are generally considered distinct from security guards as security police personnel typically hold some level of law enforcement authority. The exact powers held by security police vary widely between jurisdictions. Examples of these types of agencies include the United States' DoD Police and FBI Police, the Indian Central Industrial Security Force, and the British Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in France</span>

Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the police municipale.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of the Interior (Austria)</span>

In Austria, the Ministry of the Interior is a federal government agency serving as the interior ministry of the Austrian government. It is chiefly responsible for the public security, but also deals with matters relating to citizenship, elections, referendums, plebiscites and the alternative civilian service. The Ministry of the Interior is considered one of the most important ministries in Austria

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border guard</span> Government service concerned with security of national borders

A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)</span> German federal investigative police agency

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany is the federal investigative police agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Hesse, and maintains major branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim near Bonn. It has been headed by Holger Münch since December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Germany</span> Overview of law enforcement in Germany

Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Turkey</span>

Law enforcement in Turkey is carried out by several departments and agencies, all acting under the Ministry of Internal Affairs except military police which is under the command of the Turkish Armed Forces and the National Intelligence Organization which directly reports to the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Russia</span> Enforcement of the law of the Russian Federation

In the Russian Federation, law enforcement is the responsibility of a variety of different agencies. The Russian police are the primary law enforcement agency, with the Investigative Committee of Russia as the main investigative agency, and the Federal Security Service (FSB) as the main domestic security agency.

Law enforcement in Albania is the responsibility of several agencies. The responsibility for most tasks lies with the Albanian State Police, a national police agency, which is under the authority of Ministry of Internal Affairs. Examples of other agencies with limited policing powers are the Municipal Police, which has administrative functions and operates in the local level. They are controlled by mayors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gendarmerie (Austria)</span> Austrian federal police agency

The Federal Gendarmerie was an Austrian federal police agency. It was responsible for approximately two thirds of the population on approximately 98% of Austrian national territory, alongside the Federal Safety Guard Corps (Bundessicherheitswachekorps) and Detective Corps (Kriminalbeamtenkorps). All Austrian law enforcement agencies were merged into the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) agency, with effect from 1 July 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement by country</span>

In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.

The Federal Police is the national and principal law enforcement agency of Austria. The Federal Police was formed in July 2005 as one formal unit of police. In 2005, the Federal Police replaced the Austrian Federal Gendarmerie, which policed most of the country, and the Polizei which policed Austria’s major urban centres such as Vienna, Salzburg and Graz. The Federal Police also serves as Austria’s border control agency. The Federal Police works in partnership with the 19 municipal police agencies and other law enforcement agencies in Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Poland</span>

Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (Policja), City Guards, and several smaller specialised agencies. The Prokuratura Krajowa and an independent judiciary also play an important role in the maintenance of law and order.

Mexico law enforcement is distributed among three distinct powers of authority and jurisdiction: federal, state, and municipal. With the reform of former President; Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico’s Federal Police, the agency was replaced with the new National Guard, which serves as a federal ‘military police.’ The main goal of the National Guard is to bring justice and peace to the country. The National Guard was created because some sections of the Federal Police were involved in organized crime, corruption, and similar issues.

The Directorate General for Public Security is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the Federal Police, the Criminal Intelligence Service, the Intelligence Directorate, the EKO Cobra, and the Aerial Police.

References

  1. "Fehler".