Local Agencies
Currently, many cities in Germany also have a local public order force. Depending on each state's laws, the name of the force that performs these limited police-type functions could be:
- Ordnungsamt
- Kommunaler Ordnungsdienst
- Städtischer Ordnungsdienst
- Stadtpolizei, which means City Police, in some cities in the State of Hesse.
These city employees mainly wear uniform but some could be in plain clothes and are the municipal administration's eyes and ears on the street. Depending on each state's laws, these local employees could be armed or unarmed. Mostly they are charged with monitoring municipal by-laws and laws that fall under the responsibility of municipalities, which include monitoring the conduct of shop owners, sanitation inspections, veterinary inspections and minor infractions and misdemeanors such as illegal parking, littering, state and local dog regulations etc. They usually only hand out warnings and fines and can only perform a citizen's arrest as any other citizen can. If they see any major crimes they are required to call the State police.
Read more about this topic: Law Enforcement In Germany
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