Schleswig-Holstein Police

[5] The Schleswig-Holstein Police is equipped with blue Uniforms, which is used in Hamburg, Bremen, Lower-Saxony, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well.[6][7][8] Unlike the other States using the uniform, Schleswig-Holstein has opted to equip their Officers with white service caps.[16] It is divided into five Departments which are tasked with administrative duties, Investigation and Analysis, State security, Forensics and tactical Units.[16] Each year, the Landeskriminalamt Schleswig-Holstein publishes crime statistics (Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik) as well as a study on unreported criminal activity (Dunkelfeldstudie).[18] The Landespolizeiamt deals with matters of human resources, administration, budget and acquisition of material.Additionally, based in Neumünster is a Autobahnpolizei (Autobahn-Police) and the Verkehrsüberwachungsdienst (Traffic surveillance unit), specialized on the repression and prevention of road rage.[25] The Itzehoe precinct is responsible for the district of Steinburg, along with its Police stations in Kellinghusen, Hohenlockstedt, Schenefeld and Wellenkamp.[25] Responsibility for the Ditmarsh district rests with the Brunsbüttel precinct with its Police stations in Glückstadt, Marne, Wilster, Krempe, Burg and Horst, as well as the Heide precinct with Police stations in Meldorf, Büsum, Albersdorf, Lunden, Hennstedt, Tellingstedt and Wesselbüren.Additionally to the German national waters on the Schleswig-Holstein coast, the Waterways Police also patrols the Kiel Canal.[29] Waterways Police Precincts are located in Kiel, Brunsbüttel and Lübeck, its subordinated stations in Flensburg, Kappeln, Husum, Heligoland and Fehmarn.[32][33] Aspiring Police Officers of Laufbahngruppe 1.2 (mittlerer Dienst) bear the title of Polizeiobermeisteranwärter during one and a half year of training at the Polizeidirektion für Aus- und Fortbildung und die Bereitschaftspolizei and a year of training on the job at a Police precinct or station in Schleswig-Holstein.[32] Aspiring Police Officers of Laufbahngruppe 2.1 (gehobener Dienst) bear the title of Polizeikommissaranwärter, or Kriminalkommissaranwärter during half a year of training at the Polizeidirektion für Aus- und Fortbildung und die Bereitschaftspolizei and half a year of training on the job at a Police precinct or station in Schleswig-Holstein.[34] The Landespolizei was subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior, which appointed high-ranking Police officers, such as the Department Head, the Landespolizeidirektor.[36] The Police Group North was responsible for the areas of the modern day Districts of Schleswig-Flensburg, Northern Frisia, Dithmarsh, Rendsburg-Eckernförde and the City of Flensburg.[37] The Police Group South was responsible for the areas of the modern day Districts of Ostholstein, Segeberg, Steinburg, Duchy of Lauenburg, Stormarn, Pinneberg and the City of Neumünster.Legislation passed on 18 April 1967 further clarified the responsibilities of the Police in Schleswig-Holstein: According to § 168 LVwG (Version passed on 18 April 1967[42]) those responsibilities are to detect and to avert dangers to Public Order and Safety, and to aid and notify Authorities tasked with Public Safety if necessary, as well as to determine and investigate misdemeanors.In 1973, the Schleswig-Holstein Police introduced a green-beige Uniform by Designer Heinz Oestergaard, which was in use Nationwide.[44] Due to increased terrorist activities, such as the attacks of the Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF), on 1 October 1974 then Schleswig-Holstein Minister of the Interior Rudolf Titzck[45] created Special Forces, such as the SEK and MEK.[48] On 16 January 2024, the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sports announced that the Landespolizeidirektor (Director of State Police) Michael Wilksen would retire 1 June 2024 and be replaced by Dr. Maren Freyher.