Police authority (unit system)

The police authority ( Baden-Württemberg , Bremen , Saxony ) or police administration authority ( Saarland ) in the German states , whose police are structured according to the unitary system, are institutions that perform security tasks but are not part of the police force .

Roughly speaking, the police authorities or police administrative authorities take on the defense of dangers to public safety and order “from the desk”, through written orders, administrative acts, etc. while the police enforcement service (in Saarland: enforcement police) carries out this "on site" in acute cases. Some of the municipalities - in their function as local police authorities - also maintain a uniformed prison service themselves.

The approximate equivalent of the police (administrative) authority in the other twelve federal states, whose police law follows the separation system , is the regulatory authority (or in Bavaria the security authority ).

Police authorities

An employee of a police authority in Bad Waldsee in Baden-Württemberg detects an administrative offense as a result of unauthorized special use : The marked motor vehicle, which is parked without a vehicle registration number and is not permitted for road traffic, takes up public traffic space beyond common use .

A distinction is made between general and special police authorities (in Bremen and in Saarland: special police authorities). General police authorities are the highest state police authorities, the state police authorities, the district police authorities and the local police authorities. This also includes general administrative authorities if they act for security purposes, e.g. B. Building law, waste law and water authorities. Special police authorities are all other authorities that perform security tasks, but in practice there are hardly any such authorities.

General Police Authorities

General police authorities exist at several organizational levels. This is regulated as follows in Baden-Württemberg (§§ 61, 62 Police Act) and Saxony (§ 64 PolG):

The highest state police authorities are the ministries that are technically responsible.

The state police authorities are the regional councils in Baden-Württemberg and the state directorate in Saxony .

District police authorities are the district offices and urban districts or district-free cities, in Baden-Württemberg also large district towns and administrative communities (lower administrative authorities).

Local police authorities are the municipalities.

The municipalities must perform the tasks of the local police authority as a mandatory task according to instructions ( instruction task ).

According to § 76 SPolG, the Saarland has general police administration authorities on three levels:

State police authorities are the relevant ministries.
District police authorities are the district administrators or the regional association director (for the Saarbrücken regional association); in the state capital Saarbrücken and in independent cities the mayors.
Local police authorities are the mayors.

There are only two levels in Bremen (§ 65, 67 BremPolG):

State police authorities are the responsible senators who have been assigned certain responsibilities for security tasks.
Local police authorities are the municipalities (in the municipality of Bremen the public order office and other municipal offices; in the municipality of Bremerhaven the mayor as a representative of the magistrate).

Jurisdiction

In Baden-Wuerttemberg, according to As a rule (i.e. if no other jurisdiction is expressly determined) the local police authority is responsible in accordance with Section 66 (2) PolG. The same applies in Saxony according to Section 68 (2) PolG, in Saarland according to Section 80 (2) SPolG.

In the case of imminent danger , except when issuing police ordinances , according to § 69 PolG BW (or § 69 PolG SN; § 80 para B. the local police authority has the task of a state police authority).

Under the same conditions, tasks can also be performed outside of the service district (Section 68 (2) PolG BW; Section 70 (3) PolG SN; Section 81 (2) SPolG).

Community enforcement service

Municipal prison officer of the city of Dresden in uniform with the inscription "Police authority"

In general, the local police authority uses the law enforcement service of the respective country to carry out its police duties. H. the units that are commonly referred to as "police". They carry out on-site what the police (administrative) authority has ordered at the desk and act in acute cases, in the event of imminent danger .

In Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony, the municipalities - in their function as local police authorities - are authorized (but not obliged) to delegate security duties to local prison officers (i.e. uniformed employees of the public order office) in accordance with Section 80 of the Police Act. As part of their defined tasks, the parish prison staff and other offices have a comparable position to police officers, with all rights and obligations. So you act as a kind of city police . The position of the enforcement officers of the Bremerhaven local police authority (§ 74 BremPolG) is corresponding. However, the police enforcement service of the respective country remains ( subsidiary ) responsible for all cases of hazard prevention in which immediate on-site intervention is required.

In some cities in Saxony and Baden-Wuerttemberg, vehicles and uniforms of the officials of the public order office bear the label "Police authority". This does not correspond to the common usage of the term “police”, which only understands the state police enforcement service, but it does correspond to the terminology in the police laws of these countries, according to which the municipalities are local police authorities. Uniforms and vehicles of the Bremerhaven local police authority even only have the label “Police”.

Individual evidence

↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Schenke : Police and regulatory law. 9th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2016, Rn. 15 (p. 8).
^ Dieter Kugelmann : Police and regulatory law. 2nd edition, Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2012, Rn. 55 (p. 60).
^ Thomas Würtenberger , Dirk Heckmann , Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, Rn. 17-18 (p. 8).
^ Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, Rn. 18 (p. 8).
^ Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 13-17 (pp. 67-69).
^ Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 20 (p. 70).
^ Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 3-12 (pp. 64-67).

[1] Wolf-Rüdiger Schenke : Police and regulatory law. 9th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2016, Rn. 15 (p. 8).

[2] Dieter Kugelmann : Police and regulatory law. 2nd edition, Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2012, Rn. 55 (p. 60).

[3] Thomas Würtenberger , Dirk Heckmann , Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, Rn. 17-18 (p. 8).

[4] Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, Rn. 18 (p. 8).

[5] Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 13-17 (pp. 67-69).

[6] Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 20 (p. 70).

[7] Thomas Würtenberger, Dirk Heckmann, Steffen Tanneberger: Police law in Baden-Württemberg. 7th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2017, § 4 Rn. 3-12 (pp. 64-67).