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Kriminalpolizei (German pronunciation:[ˌkrɪmiˈnaːlpoliˌt͡saɪ̯]^ⓘ, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces ofGermany,Austria, and the German-speaking cantons ofSwitzerland. InNazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal police department for the entire Reich. Today, in theFederal Republic of Germany, the state police (Landespolizei) perform the majority of investigations. ItsCriminal Investigation Department is known as theKriminalpolizei or more colloquially, the Kripo.

In 1799, six police officers were assigned to the PrussianKammergericht (superior court of justice) inBerlin to investigate more prominent crimes. They were given permission to work in plainclothes, when necessary. Their number increased in the following years.

In 1811, their rules of service were written into theBerliner Polizeireglement (Berlin Police Regulations), and in 1820, the rank ofKriminalkommissar was introduced for criminal investigators. In 1872, the newKriminalpolizei was made a separate branch of police service distinguishing it from the uniformed police calledSchutzpolizei.

Based on the experience with this new kind of police force, other German states—such asBremen in 1852—reformed their police forces and by the end of the nineteenth century theKriminalpolizei had been established nationwide. During the early part of the 20th century and post-World War I, the Kripo continued to serve as the German state's investigative agency for all criminal activity.

AfterAdolf Hitler assumed national power in January 1933, theKriminalpolizei came to be under the control of members of theSchutzstaffel (SS).^[1] The Nazis began a programme of "coordination" of all aspects of German life, in order to consolidate their hold on power.^[2] In July 1936, the Prussian central criminal investigation department(Landeskriminalpolizeiamt) became the central criminal investigation department for Germany, theReichskriminalpolizeiamt. It was combined, along with the secret state police, theGeheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) into two sub-branch departments of theSicherheitspolizei (SiPo).^[1]Reinhard Heydrich was in overall command of the SiPo.^[1][3]Arthur Nebe was appointed head of theReichskriminalpolizeiamt and reported to Heydrich.^[4]

In September 1939, theReich Security Main Office (RSHA) was created as the overarching command organization for the various state investigation and security agencies.^[5] The SiPo was officially abolished and its departments were folded into the RSHA. TheReichskriminalpolizeiamt became Amt V (Department 5), theKriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) in the RSHA.^[5] Nebe was replaced as commander of the Kripo in August 1944 byFriedrich Panzinger.^[6]

TheKriminalpolizei were mostly plainclothes detectives and agents, and worked in conjunction with the Gestapo, theOrdnungspolizei (Orpo; uniformed police), and theGeheime Feldpolizei (secret military police).^[1][7] The Kripo was organized in a hierarchical system, with central offices in all towns and smaller cities. These, in turn, answered to headquarters offices in the larger German cities, which answered to Amt V of the RSHA in Berlin.^[8] The Kripo was mainly concerned with serious crimes such asrape,murder andarson. A main area of the group's focus was also on "blackoutburglary," considered a serious problem during bombing raids when criminals would raid abandoned homes, shops and factories for valuables. The Kripo was one of the sources of manpower used to fill the ranks of theEinsatzgruppen and several senior Kripo commanders, Arthur Nebe among them, were assigned asEinsatzgruppen commanders. TheEinsatzgruppen mobiledeath squad units perpetrated atrocities in the occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played a key role inthe Holocaust.^[9]

In 1945, the occupyingAllied Powers began their own programme ofde-Nazification. It was understood that, in atotalitarian state, few people could participate in public service without also being members of theNazi Party. Party membership alone was not viewed as sufficient grounds for dismissal, but allegations of involvement or complicity inNazi war crimes orcrimes against humanity were investigated and any police official convicted was sentenced in the usual way.

However, the Allied Powers felt therule of law would be jeopardised by the mass-sacking of police officials who had served the Nazi state and that maintaining the continuity of a civilian and indigenous police force from the outset, together with all its accumulated practical skills and experience, was the most efficient way of restoring democracy to the German people. Thus theKriminalpolizei adapted once more to the changes in oversight and accountability and, as with other public servants, took the political and economic change of the post-war years in its stride.

Eastern Germany organised centralizedVolkspolizei with Criminal Investigation Department (Hauptabteilung Kriminalpolizei).

TheFederal Republic of Germany divides police responsibilities between federal and state authorities. The state police orLandespolizei of thefederal states perform the majority of investigations in Germany.

Within theLandespolizei, theCriminal Investigation Department is known as theKriminalpolizei or Kripo. The variousKriminalpolizei departments are organized according to state law and report, ultimately, to the Interior Ministry of their state. As the vast majority of police work is performed at state level, theKriminalpolizei conducts most criminal investigations in Germany.

Kriminalpolizei detectives investigate crimes and incidents and work inplainclothes. They collect evidence, interview victims and witnesses and question suspects. Detectives are also involved in the location of missing persons and the recovery of stolen property. Investigators may be assigned to precinct detective squads or one of dozens of specialized investigative units that have borough, citywide or regional jurisdiction.

Kripo candidates are mostly regular state police officers who have done well in police school and in their first years of street duty. After rigorous screening and examination, a small number are chosen to receive a technical education in criminology at a police college. Those completing the course then serve a three-year apprenticeship before attaining full status as an investigator.

Joint investigation teams are often formed withGerman Federal Police andcustoms investigators to combat drug smuggling or organised crime activities. Each state also has a state investigation bureau orLandeskriminalamt, generally located in the state capital, to assist the Kripo in cases that require specialist forensic or investigative resources.

German police departments have separateStaatsschutz departments within the Kripo to investigate politically motivated crime.German intelligence agencies have no executive police powers. Their operatives are not authorized to carry out arrests, searches of premises, interrogations or confiscations. If they establish that judicial or police measures are required, they hand the matter over to the courts,public prosecutors or Kripo state security (Staatsschutz) officers who decide independently what action is justified.

TheBundeskriminalamt, the German Federal Investigation Bureau, and the federal police,Bundespolizei, have their own investigators but these are not referred to asKriminalpolizei. It is technically possible to transfer from the federal police to the Kripo, but in practice there is little demand for this.

The responsibility for law and order in Switzerland basically lies with thecantons where thecantonal police (Kantonspolizei) are responsible for investigations.^[10] The Swiss federal structure is reflected in a number of cantonal police services which are organized in different ways, but in the German-speaking cantons, the criminal investigation departments are generally known asKriminalpolizei.

• Landespolizei
• Sicherheitspolizei (Weimar Republic)
• Sicherheitspolizei (Nazi-era)
• Kripos (Norway)

• Friedlander, Henry (1995).The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.ISBN 978-0807822081.
• Gerwarth, Robert (2011).Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0-300-11575-8.
• McNab, Chris (2009).The SS: 1923–1945. London: Amber Books.ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.
• Weale, Adrian (2010).The SS: A New History. London: Little, Brown.ISBN 978-1408703045.
• Weale, Adrian (2012).Army of Evil: A History of the SS. New York: Caliber Printing.ISBN 978-0-451-23791-0.
• Williams, Max (2001).Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography, Volume 1—Road To War. Church Stretton: Ulric Publishing.ISBN 978-0-9537577-5-6.

• Criminal investigation
• Police units of Germany
• German words and phrases
• 1872 establishments in Germany
• 1945 disestablishments in Germany

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