Kriminalpolizei
Kriminalpolizei (English: Criminal Police) is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany during 1936, the Kripo became the Criminal Police Department for the entire Reich. In September 1939, the Kripo became Amt V (Department V), the Criminal Police in the RSHA; which was also known as the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (Reich Criminal Police Department or RKPA). Today, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the state police (Landespolizei) perform the majority of investigations. Its Criminal Investigation Department is known as the Kriminalpolizei or, more colloquially, the Kripo.
The equivalent division of the Norwegian Police is known as Kripos, derived from a similar acronym in Norwegian.
Foundation
In 1799, six police officers were assigned to the Prussian Kammergericht (superior court of justice) in Berlin to investigate more prominent crimes. They were given permission to work in plainclothes, when necessary. Their number increased in the following years.
Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany)
Kriminalpolizei, often abbreviated as Kripo, is the German name for a criminal investigation department. This article deals with the criminal investigation departments of Nazi Germany.
The Kripo consisted of the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt, later Amt V of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, and its directly subordinated criminal investigation centers (Kripo-Leitstellen and Kripo-Stellen), as well as the criminal investigation divisions of the local state (Staatliche Kriminalabteilungen) and municipal police departments (Gemeindekriminalpolizeiabteilungen). In 1943 both the latter became directly subordinated to the criminal investigation centers. The personnel consisted of detectives in the Junior Criminal Investigation Career, the Executive Criminal Investigation Career, and the Female Criminal Investigation Career.
Central organization
In July 1936, the Prussian central criminal investigation department (Landeskriminalpolizeiamt) became the central criminal investigation department for Germany, the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt. It was merged, along with the secret state police department, the Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo). They were placed under a centralized command office known as the Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei. At that point, Reinhard Heydrich was in overall command of the SiPo, the Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Arthur Nebe was appointed head of the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt, and reported to Heydrich.
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