Federal Criminal Police Office Germany
The Bundeskriminalamt dates back to March 1951. At
that point in time, the ”Law on the Establishment of
a Federal Criminal Police Office” came into force. A
short time afterwards the ”Criminal Police Office for
the British Zone” in Hamburg became the Bundeskriminalamt
(Federal Criminal Police Office), abbreviated
BKA. Legislators thus acted on the authority
granted by the German Constitution to set up central
agencies at Federal level for police information and
communications as well as for criminal police work.
Wiesbaden was designated as the headquarters for
the new criminal police agency that same year.
The development of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) as
the criminal police of the Federation over more than
50 years must be viewed in the context of social and
political developments as well as technical progress.
The orientation, build-up and expansion of the Bundeskriminalamt
are, and always have been, closely
tied to the national and international development
of crime and the specific role of the BKA within the
existing security architecture in Germany, Europe
and the world.
Constant changes in the forms and means of the
commission of crime, as well as the criminal geographical
regions, make enormous demands on the
police. The Bundeskriminalamt has been facing
these for more than 50 years with constant review
and adjustment of its working methods and organisational
structures, in order to ensure the competent
performance of its duties at all times.
The early years were marked by the build-up of the
BKA as the national central police agency and the
international co-operation. In the 70’s and 80’s, the
terrorist activities of the Red Army Faction not only
had a decisive influence on the work of the Bundeskriminalamt
but also kept the entire country in suspense.
As of the mid-80’s, besides continuing its
battle against terrorism, the Bundeskriminalamt
concentrated above all on dealing with the growth of
international drug trafficking and the spread of
organized crime.
The reunification of Germany in a uniting Europe
was an outstanding mark of the closing 20th century.
Now, at the beginning of the new millennium, the
Bundeskriminalamt faces the challenge posed by
breathtaking progress in the fields of information
and communications technology, which criminals
also use for their purposes. In addition, since the terrorist
attacks in the United States on September 11,
2001, the battle against international terrorism has
become the focal point of security policy throughout
the world. It poses a great challenge to security agencies
at national and international level and makes it
necessary to review our own organisation and the
interaction with other agencies of the security architecture
