21 years in action – police attachés: the long arms of the law

The liaison officers of the Ministry of the Interior are present around the clock. And this literally – as they are currently stationed on four continents around the world. They are die Information exchanges and contact persons in the context of cross-border policing. 21 years ago, with the first offices in Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey, the attaché system started successfully.

“As of today, we are represented in 24 countries worldwide with liaison officers who are supported on site by 26 mostly local employees. As some of the attachés cover multiple destinations at once, we covered a total of 36 countries,” said attaché chief Tamara Kerbl at the current liaison officers conference.

Finding a wanted criminal anywhere in the world thanks to a manhunt is an (in itself difficult) thing. Getting the authorities in the refugee country to arrest them and hand them over to us is a completely different matter.

And this is where the liaison officers come in. Maintaining networks and good contacts with local colleagues is one of the most important tasks of police attachés abroad.

What the now convicted judoka legend Peter Seisenbacher felt. Thanks to the attachés in Georgia and Ukraine, the fugitive (in collaboration with target investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office) was located in Kiev and arrested. Or a major Viennese dealer who was recently (as reported) busted and extradited thanks to the liaison officer stationed in Thailand.

Seconded officers keep Heimat informed
In addition to ongoing operations, attachés also serve internal security authorities as global feelers. They keep colleagues informed about the political situation in the respective countries of deployment, report on crime and migration developments and try to raise the alarm at an early stage.