The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) - which acts as the EUROPOL National Unit (ENU) for Germany - is Germany´s central agency for police information and communication. It provides support to all Federal police forces and coordinates national crime suppression activities. The BKA also conducts investigations in its own jurisdiction.
As an agency subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, the BKA is tasked by German Police forces including Landespolizei when criminal investigations take on an international dimension. Through its operations and coordination center, a 24-hour service center, known as the Kriminaldauerdienst, the BKA is able to take immediate action when investigations, searches and international communications require it.
The BKA has the jurisdiction to conduct investigations relating to:
- International trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives or drugs;
- Internationally organized production or exchange of counterfeit currency;
- Internationally organized money laundering;
- Internationally organized terrorism;
- Serious cases of computer sabotage.
Responsible for all serious crime investigations, the BKA also helps its national law enforcement partners in:
- Forensic identification and sciences;
- Research and criminal analysis;
- Criminology and criminal investigation;
- Researching and developing new police methods;
- Developing new working methods aimed at suppressing crime.
The BKA has national mandate for:
- the protection of members of Germanys federal constitutional bodies and, in specific cases, their foreign guests;
- the prevention and suppression of politically motivated crime.
With offices in Wiesbaden, Berlin and Meckenheim, the BKA employs more than 5,500 men and women. With their specialized knowledge and expertise in the fields of criminal sciences, information technology and administration, they cover a broad spectrum of activity. Approximately half of them are fully trained criminal police officers. The others come from more than 70 different occupational groups.