Security in Germany
Germany is one of the safest countries in the world. In the Global Peace Index, which uses a variety of indicators to assess the degree of freedom in 163 of the world’s countries, Germany is regularly among the highest-ranked countries. It ranked 20th in 2024, the leading group showing only marginal differences in scores in some cases. According to the Police Crime Statistics, 5.9 million criminal offences were recorded in Germany in 2023, with a clear-up rate of around 58 percent.
As in all countries, the investigative authorities in Germany are also increasingly facing the risks posed by cybercrime. Especially cross-border crime in the virtual sphere requires international cooperation. Against this backdrop, Germany cooperates with the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol, among others.
Collaboration between the Federal and State governments
As a matter of principle, given Germany’s federal structure the federal states are responsible for policing. The German Basic Law stipulates, however, that specific duties shall be discharged at federal level. Federal police authorities include the German Federal Police Force and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The Federal Police Force is responsible, above all, for protecting the country’s borders and is deployed, for example, at railway stations and airports. The BKA concerns itself, amongst other things, with politically motivated violence and terrorism. In these areas, Germany again works closely with the security services in other countries and with international organizations such as Interpol. Since 2014, German lawyer Jürgen Stock has been Interpol Secretary General.
German police officers are also deployed incountries in crisis or conflict, such as in Armenia and Somalia. Usually as part of an EU or UN mission, they train local security personnel and/or strengthen the mechanisms underpinning the rule of law and human rights Human rights The respect and strengthening of human rights worldwide are a cornerstone of German Federal Government policy. Together with its EU partners it is committed to protecting and continually advancing human rights standards throughout the world. This occurs in close collaboration with the institutions… Read more › .
