Law enforcement in Austria

Law enforcement in Austria is the responsibility of the Directorate General for Public Security, a subdivision of the Federal Ministry of the Interior located at Herrengasse 7 in Vienna. Over 20,000 police officers are on duty in the Federal Police at more than 1,000 police stations. On lakes and rivers the federal police has over 70 boats and other craft to act as the Water police.

An Austrian Police vehicle

The phone number 059133 connects you to the nearest police station anywhere in Austria. The emergency number is 133.

Standard patrol vehicle of the military police

Law enforcement agencies

Federal

Ministry of Defence
Car of the Financial Guard

Ministry of Finance
  • Finanzpolizei: Financial Guard
  • Operative Zollaufsicht (OZA): Customs Service
Armoured vehicle 'Sonderwagen 4 of the Federal Police

Federal Ministry of the Interior
  • Bundesamt zur Korruptionsprävention und Korruptionsbekämpfung (BAK): Federal Bureau to prevent and to fight corruption
  • Generaldirektion für öffentliche Sicherheit (GDföS): Directorate General for Public Security
    • Bundeskriminalamt (BK): Federal Investigation Bureau
    • Bundespolizei: Federal Police Service, divided into 83 district police commands and 27 city police commands
      • Alpinpolizei: Mountain Police in ski ressorts, part of Federal Police
      • Bereitschaftseinheit Wien: Standby Police Unit for Vienna
      • Einsatzeinheit: Riot Police of Federal Police
      • Landesverkehrsabteilung: Traffic and highway Police
      • See- und Stromdienst: River branch of Federal Police
      • Sonderdienste Sektor: SWAT unit of Federal Police in Graz
      • WEGA: SWAT unit of Federal Police in Vienna
    • Einsatzkommando Cobra (EKO Cobra): Federal SWAT and special forces unit
Standard vehicle of the Justizwache
    • Flugpolizei: Air Police
    • Sondereinheit für Observation (SEO): Special Unit for Covered Technical Surveillance

Ministry of Justice
  • Justizwache (JW): Penitentiary Police
    • Justizwache Einsatzgruppe (JEG): SWAT Team of Penitentiary Police

State

In general, there are no state law enforcement offices for public safety permitted, only on the federal and municipal level of administration by the Austrian Constitution, only for their sphere of authority like the states´ conservation and wildlife protection.

Municipalities
  • Stadtpolizei: Municipal police, in 21 municipalities
  • Ordnungsamt: An arm of the municipal government tasked with enforcing municipal ordinances. In cities with their own municipal police forces, the municipal police doubles as the Ordnungsamt. As of 2018, there are Ordnungsämter in six communities. In two of these, the Ordnungsamt is conventionally called Ordnungswache; in one of them, Mobile Überwachungsgruppe. The difference in terminology has no legal significance.
  • Ordnungsdienst: An Ordnungsamt that is technically a private corporation (held by the municipality) as opposed to a department of the municipal government. As of 2018, there is exactly one Ordnungsdienst in Austria, in the city of Linz.
  • Straßenaufsicht: Municipal traffic enforcement

Requirements of Police Officers

Police officers in Austria must meet certain requirements. These requirements include being at least 18 years of age, Austrian citizenship, an ability to act (not burdened by physical disability), impeccable reputation, Class B driver's licence, if conscripted to the armed forces, to have completed that conscription, and a swimming badge to prove swimming ability.[1]

See also

References
  1. http://polizeikarriere.gv.at/einstellungsvoraussetzung_pruefen.html


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