The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Germany:
Germany – federal parliamentary republic in Western-CentralEurope consisting of 16 constituent states (German: Bundesland), which retain limited sovereignty. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With more than 80 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union (EU). Germany is a major economic and political power of the European continent and a historic leader in many cultural, theoretical, and technical fields.
Landespolizei forces are divided into the following operational sections:
Schutzpolizei – ('Schupo') The uniformed police officers who patrol the streets, respond to emergency calls, do traffic policing etc.
Kriminalpolizei – ('Kripo') The plain clothes detective branch of the State police, responsible for investigations. For instance, if a car is broken into, the Schupo will respond, secure the car, notify the owner etc., and then hand the case over to Kripo for investigation.
Einsatzhundertschaften (EHU) / Bereitschaftspolizei (BePo) – Uniformed part of the LaPo that is used when manpower is required, for example during political demonstrations.
Landeskriminalamt (LKA) – The State Investigation Bureau is directly subordinate to the state ministry of the interior, supervises police operations aimed at preventing and investigating criminal offences, and coordinates investigations involving more than one Präsidium.
Wasserschutzpolizei (WSP) – The river police for patrolling rivers, lakes and harbours.
^"The fifteen major spenders in 2006". Recent trends in military expenditure. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-08-14. Retrieved 2007-08-23.