Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany)

Kripo

Kriminalpolizei
Agency overview
Superseding agency	Landespolizei
Type	Criminal police
Jurisdiction	German Reich German-occupied Europe
Headquarters	RSHA, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin 52°30′26″N 13°22′57″E / 52.50722°N 13.38250°E / 52.50722; 13.38250
Employees	12,792 c. February 1944[1]
Minister responsible	Heinrich Himmler 1934–1939, Reichsführer-SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei
Agency executives	Arthur Nebe July 1936–1944, Chief of the Kriminalpolizei Friedrich Panzinger 1944–1945, Chief of the Kriminalpolizei
Parent agency	Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)

Kriminalpolizei (English: Criminal Police), often abbreviated as Kripo, is the German name for a criminal investigation department. This article deals with the agency during the Nazi era.

In Nazi Germany, the Kripo consisted of the Reich Criminal Police Department (RKPA), which in 1939 became Department V of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). There were criminal investigation centers directly subordinated to RKPA as well as criminal investigation divisions of the local state and municipal police departments. In 1943 both the latter became directly subordinated to the criminal investigation centers. The personnel consisted of detectives in the junior, executive, and female careers, as well as criminal investigation employees.