The North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Police Force is the biggest of the 16 German state police forces because almost a quarter of the German population lives in NRW

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

. Roughly 50,000 officers police about 19 million people.

Constabularies

NRW has 50 police constabularies. The 21 urban constabularies are headed by a President of Police appointed by the NRW state government and the 29 rural constabularies are headed by the county chief administration officer elected for five years by municipal elections. So the chief of police is always a civilian assisted by a senior police officer responsible for law enforcement operations. These authorities are supervised by the police departments of the five NRW district governments.

State Investigation Bureau

The NRW Landeskriminalamt

Landeskriminalamt

Landeskriminalamt - is the German term for a State Investigation Bureau in Germany. LKAs are part of the state police which, in turn, is directly subordinate to the respective state ministry of the interior.-Investigations:...

in Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 (LKA NRW) is NRW's State Investigation Bureau. Although investigations are principally the responsibility of each regional police force, NRW’s LKA investigates and prosecutes crimes if the Police Organisation Act requires it or if the Interior Ministry, Ministry of Justice, a court of justice or a public prosecutor’s office

Staatsanwaltschaft

The Staatsanwaltschaft or public prosecutor's offices are criminal justice bodies attached to the judiciary but separate from the courts in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland...

 requests its involvement.

Its director is the only police officer leading an operational police authority in NRW and reports directly to the NRW Interior Ministry. Its six operational departments are the state’s central authorities for dealing with serious crime.

• Department 1 conducts investigations and analysis of organised crime.
• Department 2 is responsible for state security and investigations of political extremism.
• Department 3 deals with the analysis and evaluation of crime and works on crime prevention and crime control projects.
• Department 4 provides operational support. It coordinates the missions, training and equipment for highly specialised operational units, it gives advice to the police commanders at major incidents and provides support to international law enforcement agencies. The department hosts the Central Information Service for Sport Events and the NRW Police Aviation Group.
• Department 5 is the NRW Forensic Institute. It performs all forensic tests needed for prosecution. About 200 scientists and experts perform roughly 25,000 tests per year.
• Department 6 has special technical support units that assist other law enforcement agencies with technical or special know-how. This may occur if investigations become difficult e.g. scenes of fire, accidents (explosives, explosive devices) or computer researches etc. The department also has a surveillance team and a target search unit.

Water police

The state's Water police

Water police

Water police, also called harbour patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables or river police, are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organisation, who patrol in water craft...

 (Wasserschutzpolizei

Wasserschutzpolizei

The Wasserschutzpolizei is the water police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the Landespolizei ....

) is centrally organized and patrols over 900 km of waterways. Its headquarters is in Duisburg

Duisburg

- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...

 as part of Duisburg police headquarters and it has stations (Wasserschutzpolizeiwache) in Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

, Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

, Wesel

Wesel

Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...

, Emmerich

Emmerich

Emmerich am Rhein; , meaning Emmerich at the Rhine is a city on the lower part of the River Rhine in the northwest of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia...

, Münster

Münster

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

, Minden

Minden

Minden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...

, Bergeshövede, Datteln

Datteln

Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on a crossroads of four canals , which makes it the biggest canal junction in Europe, approx...

 and Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

. The force has 24 boats and patrols the Rhine, Weser, Ems and Ruhr (as far as Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

) rivers and the North German canals.

Highway Patrol

Highway Patrol (Autobahnpolizei

Autobahnpolizei

Autobahnpolizei is the term in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland for the highway patrol. Heavy traffic and high-speed accidents resulted in the creation of special police units to patrol the expressways known as Autobahnen....

) duties are carried out by the five biggest local police authorities. These are PP Cologne, PP Düsseldorf, PP Münster, PP Dortmund and PP Bielefeld.

Support institutions

Besides the operational authorities there are three police institutions that support operations and the development of police excellence:

• The NRW State Bureau for Training, Professional Development and Personnel (Landesamt für Ausbildung, Fortbildung und Personalangelegenheiten or LAFP) provides all basic operational training for police candidates and offers a wide range of vocational training and professional development for all officers. The LAFP's headquarters is in Selm-Bork and has facilities in Brühl, Linnich, Neuss, Münster and Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock.
• The Central Institute for Police Equipment and Technical Service (ZPD NRW) offers technical support, testing and research. It is responsible for vehicle and equipment acquisition and provides IT and communications support.
• The City of Münster
  Münster
  Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
  
  in NRW hosts the national German Police University (DHPol) which is a jointly administered institution for all the state and federal forces.

External links

• http://www1.polizei-nrw.de/lka/Start/welcome-to-the-lka-1/article/allgemeine_Beschreibung_eng..html