Gemeindepolizei (Nazi Germany)

Gemeindepolizei (GemPo) is the German name for a municipal law enforcement agency. This article deals with the municipal police forces of Nazi Germany. Municipalities with more than 2,000 residents, not having a state police presence, had to have a municipal police department. The mayors were police commissioners. Under them the municipal police departments were led by professional chiefs of police. Towns with over 10,000 residents having a municipal police department were also obliged to have a municipal criminal investigation division.

Organization
Municipalities with more than 2,000 residents, not having a State protection police presence, had to have a municipal police department. In municipalities with less than 2,000 residents, the Gendarmerie was in charge of police protection. During the war, it was planned to extend the responsibility of the Gendarmerie to all towns with less than 5,000 residents, but it did not take place except to a very limited extent. In 1942 municipal police departments existed in 1,338 municipalities with more than 5,000 residents. Of these, five had more than 100,000 residents; 22 had 50–100,00, 591 had 10–50,000, and 720 had 5–10,000 residents.

Municipal police departments
In smaller towns, the Bürgermeister was police commissioner. He was subordinated to the Landrat as head of the Landkreis police administration. In a city that constituted its own Stadtkreis, the Oberbürgermeister was both police commissioner and head of the district police administration. As such he was subordinated to the Regierungspräsident in each Regierungsbezirk. Under the police commissioners the municipal police departments were led by professional chiefs of police.

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Protection Police
The municipal protection police in larger cities were called Kommando der Schutzpolizei, while it in smaller municipalities was called Schutzpolizei-Dienstabteilung.

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Kriminalpolizei
Towns with over 10,000 residents having a municipal police department were also obliged to have a municipal criminal investigation division—Gemeindekriminalpolizeiabteilung. It was supervised by the nearest State criminal investigation department (Kripo-Stelle). As of 1943 all municipal criminal investigation divisions with more than 10 detectives (i.e. mainly in cities with more than 50,000 residents) were transferred to the state Kriminalpolizei.

Ranks in the municipal Kripo
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