The Federal Republic of Germany consists of 16 federal states. Each state has its own police force. Together, the state police forces employ more than 300,000 government employees, police officers and civil servants. At federal level, the "Bundespolizei" (former Federal Border Police) and the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden operate under the responsibility of the Federal Minister of the Interior. A total of around 39,000 people are employed there.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the police perform their duties in 47 district police authorities and three higher state authorities with around 57,800 employees, of which more than 40,500 are police officers. The police are under the authority of the Minister of the Interior. He is politically accountable to parliament.
The North Rhine-Westphalian police force has been organized in three tiers since 1 October 2020. The basis is formed by 47 district police authorities (KPB). The three higher state authorities (LOB), LAFP, LKA and LZPD are responsible for the technical supervision of the KPB and the LAFP is also responsible for the supervision of the KPB in matters relating to service and employment law. The LOBs act as central offices in their respective areas of responsibility and perform tasks for the entire state. The Ministry of the Interior is the highest supervisory authority. It is responsible for the direct supervision of all police authorities and the technical supervision of the three LOBs.
Landesamt für Ausbildung, Fortbildung und Personalangelegenheiten (LAFP NRW)
The tasks of the LAFP are described in particular in Section 13b of the Police Organization Act (POG). With around 1,700 employees, it is responsible for the training and further training of the police, in addition to the aforementioned supervision of the KPB in matters of service and labor law, unless the training is carried out by the University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration or the district police authorities as training authorities.
The LAFP is based in Selm-Bork, with further locations in Brühl, Linnich, Neuss, Münster and Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock.
Landesamt für Zentrale Polizeiliche Dienste (LZPD NRW)
The tasks of the LZPD are summarized in Section 13a POG. The central location is in Duisburg. This state office, which employs more than 1,300 people, combines a large number of different tasks. For example, the LZPD is responsible for issues relating to emergency response, operational management and road safety work, it coordinates forces and resources across the state and maintains a central control center.
In addition to these operational tasks, it is also responsible for the technical equipment of the police and all matters relating to information and communication technology. According to the Ministry of the Interior, tasks relating to control and management as well as budgetary, economic and property matters are carried out centrally for the NRW police.
Landeskriminalamt (LKA NRW)
The tasks of the LKA result in particular from Section 13 POG. It is based in Düsseldorf and is the central office for criminal police tasks with over 1,600 employees. It is responsible for matters relating to the fight against crime and supports the KPB in preventive measures as well as in the prosecution and investigation of criminal offenses.
The State Criminal Police Office prosecutes criminal offenses on its own authority on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and at the request of a court or public prosecutor's office. It also collects and evaluates all information relevant to the police's fight against crime. It also performs state central tasks in the area of weapons and association law.
District police authorities (KPB)
The focus of police work in North Rhine-Westphalia lies with the 47 KPB. Their areas of responsibility mostly coincide with those of the independent (large) cities and districts. KPBs in independent cities are the 18 police headquarters, in the districts these are the 29 district councils. In addition to the administrative tasks to be carried out in all KPBs, the enforcement tasks are divided into the core areas of emergency response, crime prevention and traffic accident prevention.
For certain serious crimes or special reasons for deployment, there is a tiered system according to which larger and more powerful KPBs carry out tasks beyond their own area of responsibility. There are further special features for the surveillance of around 2,200 km of highway and over 900 km of waterways. The Bielefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Münster police headquarters are also responsible for the freeway beyond their own area, while the Duisburg police headquarters is responsible for the waterways.
