Austria

AuthorDaniel Mabrey
Pages173-180

Page 173

Official country name: Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich)

Capital: Vienna (Wien)

Geographic description: Austria enjoys a historically strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe, where it shares a boundary with the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to the west, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, and Italy and Slovenia to the south. Total land area is 52,114.4 square miles (83,870 square kilometers).

Population: 8,184,691 (est. 2005)

Austria
LAW ENFORCEMENT
History

The Austrian police service (Bundespolizei/Bundesgendarmerie) finds its origins in Citizen's Watch, which was formed in 1221 to protect the life and property of Viennese citizens. In 1531 this Citizen's Watch evolved into an official Day and Night watch, although still carried out by citizens. The earliest urban police force was Vienna's City Guard of 1569, consisting of 150 men. By the beginning of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), the City Guard consisted of 1,000 men organized as a regiment, individual companies of which took part in military campaigns. The soldiers of the guard were subject to the authority of the Imperial War Council, and the city was required to pay for their services. In 1646 the city set up its own Public Order Watch; serious frictions between the two bodies resulted in their replacement by a new service under a commissioner of police in 1776. Its personnel were still made up of soldiers, either volunteers or assigned, but they failed to meet the city's needs because of a lack of training and continuity of service. Police functions were organized in a similar form in other large cities of the empire. It was not until a series of reforms between 1850 and 1869 that military influence over the police force was finally ended with the introduction of an independent command structure, a permanent corps of police professionals, training of officers in police skills, and distinctive uniforms and symbols of rank. The Gendarmerie was created by Emperor Franz Josef I in 1850 after the disorder and looting that accompanied the uprising of 1848. Initially composed of eighteen regiments and part of the army, its operational command was transferred to the Ministry for Interior in 1860 and wholly severed from the armed forces in 1867. Nevertheless, training, uniforms, ranks, and even pay remained patterned after the army. A special Alpine branch was formed in 1906, mainly to protect the part of Tirol that bordered Italy. Alpine rescue operations and

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border patrols have remained an important Gendarmerie function. After the breakup of the monarchy in 1918, the Gendarmerie was transformed into a "civilian security force," but still retained paramilitary characteristics. Austria's annexation to the German Reich in 1938 led to the Gendarmerie merging with the German Police, to be restored to its old status as a uniform-wearing armed security force within the civil service following World War II. By 1964 the Gendarmerie had fully reconstituted itself and became an effective rural police force. The gendarmes saw a professionalism in the corps as training and pay gradually increased. As Eastern Europe began to open up in the 1980s, the Gendarmerie found itself facing increasing amounts of criminality and it took different forms than in the past. By 1993 the Gendarmerie had to realign itself with Austria's security needs and the needs of the burgeoning European community. Austria's accession to the European union and the Schengen agreements expanded the Gendarmerie's role border security—no longer was the Gendarmerie responsible only for securing the Austrian borders, but the European Union's Eastern border as well.

Structure and Organizatio

The most important law enforcement and security agencies are organized under the General Directorate for Public Security of the federal Ministry for Interior. The directorate is divided into two principle units: the Bundespolizei or federal police and the Bundesgendarmerie or rural police.

In most major towns, security is in the hands of the Federal Police. Each department is headed by a Director of Police, with the exception of the Vienna Police Directorate where the highest ranking officer is referred to as Chief of Police. The Federal Police Directorates are divided into Kommisariate, which are, in turn, divided into Wachzimmer. Within the Federal Police, there is the constabulary and officers belonging to the criminal investigations division. Furthermore, there are special task-forces called mobile operational units. The constabulary has middle duty, higher duty, and senior duty officers, also referred to as W3, W2, and W1 officers respectively.

The rural constabulary (Gendarmerie) operates in rural areas. In each state the district police divisions, which are, in turn, divided into police stations, are headed by a commander. The rural constabulary has special task forces referred to as special mobile groups. The antiterror squad is one of the special task forces of the rural constabulary. One important distinction between the federal police and the rural constabulary, apart from different uniforms, is the difference in authority. Federal police officers are government officials/civil servants who may summon and bring in the accused and the witnesses. Rural constabulary officers do not have the same status. They are not government officials/civil servants, and may only request, rather than demand, the accused and the witnesses to come in for questioning. The rural constabulary, the constabulary, and the criminal investigators are referred to as Wachkörper, that is to say they are armed, uniformed, or part of an organization run along military lines whose tasks are of a policing nature.

While there are local police in Austria, they largely perform minor security roles or provide support to the Federal Police or Gendarmerie.

The typical Austrian police officer, whether Federal Police or Gendarmerie, is young, male, and educated at or beyond the high-school level. Over half are under the age of 35, and women make up a growing segment of the workforce.

Policing in Austria is similar to that of other Western nations as police officers work in shifts four or five days per week, totaling a 40-hour work week.

Uniform

The Federal police will adopt a new uniform in 2005 that is reminiscent of the K.U.K uniforms of the early twentieth century. The formal uniform will be a five-button navy-blue coat with two breast pockets. Rank insignia is displayed on the lapel of the coat, which buttons at the neck, as well as on the left breast pocket. On the left shoulder is formal dress cord that also corresponds to rank. There are neither identifying numbers of name tags. The Federal Police patch is on the left sleeve midway down the arm. The police cap is peaked in front with the Federal Police emblem above a cord that highlights a short black bill; the remainder of the hat is navy blue. The dress slacks are navy blue with two silver stripes running along the outermost section of each pant leg. Shoes are black, but patrol personnel generally wear ankle-length boots. The duty uniform differs from the formal uniform in several ways. The coat is replaced with an open-necked navy blue shirt with silver epaulets that display rank; the cord on the shoulder is removed from the shirt. Officers wear a black tie with the shirt and can wear either a beret or police hat, depending on preference and assignment. Slacks are replaced with multipocketed tactical pants, and female officers have the option to wear a skirt depending on their assignment. In winter, the uniform is complemented by a navy blue heavy coat with a fur-lined collar.

From 1990 to 1995, the old Gendarmerie uniform was gradually replaced by a newer and substantially more practical general-purpose uniform. The Gendarmerie was the first...

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