Austria: police & security agencies
01 January 1991
Austria: police & security agencies
bacdoc July=1995
The information in this country file was first published in the
handbook "Statewatching the new Europe" (November 1993). It was
compiled by Peter Klerks and extracted from a longer report which
is available from: The Domestic Security Research Foundation, PO
Box 11178, 1001 GD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Austria
83,850 km², 7,665,804 inhabitants
Long-form name: Republic of Austria
Type: federal republic
Capital: Vienna
Administrative divisions: 9 states (bundesländer,
singular--bundesland)
Constitution: 1920, revised 1929 (reinstated 1945)
Legal system: Civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial
review of legislative acts by a Constitutional Court; separate
administrative and civil/penal supreme courts; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: president, chancellor, vice chancellor, Council
of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly
(Bundesversammlung) consists of an upper council or Federal
Council (Bundesrat) and a lower council or National Council
(Nationalrat)
Judicial branch: Supreme Judicial Court (Oberster Gerichtshof)
for civil and criminal cases, Administrative Court
(Verwaltungsgerichtshof) for bureaucratic cases, Constitutional
Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) for constitutional cases
I. POLICE STRUCTURES & forces
Total no. of police officers (1992 estimate, Hazenberg en
Mulschlegel 1992): 27,000. Women in the police: criminal service
2.94%; uniformed service 2.41%; Gendarmerie 0.55% Women have been
deployed in the criminal service since 1951, in operational work
with the uniformed police since 1985 and with the Gendarmerie
since 1984. No. of police officers per 100,000 inhabitants: 351
(EC av. 338)
Austria is a federal state in which the maintenance of public
order and security is exclusively a matter of the Federation
(Bund) (Vetschera 1992 and Vienna NCB 1989). The provinces
(Länder) have no police authority. The Ministry of the Interior
is responsible for the maintenance of public order and security.
The police forces in Austria have two separate branches: the
Bundespolizei (Federal Police, about 15,000 personnel, both
uniformed and detectives) in the 14 main cities; and the
Bundesgendarmerie, 10,000 strong, operating mainly in the
countryside. The Bundespolizei is a civilian force, yet has a
paramilitary mode of organisation and supervision.
The Bundesgendarmerie is a paramilitary national police force
under the Ministry of the Interior, with regional commands in
each province except Vienna (which is exclusively covered by the
Federal Police), district commands and detached stations. The
Gendarmerie also carries out criminal investigations where the
Bundespolizei has no presence.
For riot control and at other special occasions the
gendarmerie can call on the federal army for assistance.
Special units
A special Gendarmeriebegleitkommando unit was established in 1974
to provide protection for people at risk. In 1978 it was
transformed into a quick reaction team (Gendarmerie
Einsatzkommando or GEK, aka Cobra Unit). The standing GEK force
is deployed in emergency situations for hostage rescue and other
forms of extreme violent crime, and GEK members also fly
regularly on Austrian Airlines flights for security purposes. Its
current strength is about 200, and its training and capabilities
are similar to those of most other West European countries.
Standard sidearm is the ManuRhin .357 magnum revolver also in use
with the French GIGN units. Assault and sniper rifles are also
available.
In 1984 special action units (Sondereinsatzgruppen or SEG)
of the Gendarmerie were established in each of Austria'?
provinces except Vienna. The SEG consists of former members of
the GEK. Their task is to intervene in the first instance against
terrorist or similar incidents and to contain the situation until
the GEK arr