it almost seems fitting that I at least try to explain the German police system. I’m not an expert. Much of what i know comes from (1) reading novels about German police officers and detectives (2) watching German police shows and (3) reading official sources on the Internet put out by Interpol and official German sources.

And I’m sure that I’ve managed to misread something along the way. If I have you, please let me know. And if  you can provide more information, please do so. It’ll be appreciated.

The German police act pretty much in the same way as say American police do. The only difference is, unlike the United States where there’s far more freedom granted to police officers, the Germans are reluctant to give overwhelming freedom of power to their police officers.

If you know German history, you understand why this is case.

Unlike their American counterparts, where the average police is in and out of the police academy in 28 weeks, German police officers go to school for at least three years. Their trainining system is set up differently. There is a lot emphasis placed on the technical and legal side of police work in Germany.

German police officers do carry guns and they do have to use them on occassion. But because of the strict laws concerning the ownership of guns in Germany, the police see more crime involving knives.  However, the number of crimes committed with guns has been on the rise, especially in the eastern part of the country. Just like in the United States, the criminals have ways of getting guns.

The German Police (sorry) are from what I heard are not very fun and can stop you on the street and demand to see indentification. They’re not as nice about it as say American police officers (or so I’m told, going by second information on this).

It is not common for a suspect to request a lawyer during questioning, something different from the States. And in some cases, it is the prosecuting attorney doing the questioning, not the cops.

Something else that I found interesting, it is not permissable for a police officer to lie during interrogation in Germany. I’m not sure how deep that goes, because I have seen some cases recently where detectives did lie to a suspect to get a confession. In the United States, a cop can tell a suspect that someone saw them or say they have DNA evidence, etc to get information. In Germany, they take human rights pretty seriously.

There is also a tiered ranking system in Germany for Police. The lower rank, middle rank and higher rank. The higher rank requires additional schooling (similiar to what masters degree would be) for two years. The middle rank also involves additional schooling. And the lower rank.

Something else I found interesting is that in the United States it generally takes years and tests to reach the rank of sargeant. In Germany, it’s pretty much right out of the academy that you’re sargeant following your probationary period. It is possible to be on the force ten years and be in the middle ranks if you’re good enough.

The court system (I’m still researching) is different that the United States judicial system. There are no juries (as far as I know) that is made up of fellow citizens. There might be a jury judges that decide one’s fate.

Food for thought: if a prosecutor knowingly violates judicial law, he or she could be charged for prosecutorial (eh, is that a word?) crimes.

Jail systems: It’s pretty much universal all the way around, I believe. You do the crime, you do the time in a jail with bars and grey walls. Doesn’t sound pleasant, whether you’re in the U.S. or Germany.

Sentencing: Germany does not have the death penalty. They do have life sentences and those are reserved generally for acts of murder. Though there is a sentencing guideline for murder. For instance, a planned murder would get you life, but a murder in the act of a crime probably would get considerably less.

I’ll dig up the URL, but there is a website where you can look at the German penal code and sentencing guildelines. (You have to love the Internet.)