For your safety. Your National Police

 
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For your safety. Your National Police
For your safety.
Your National Police

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For your safety. Your National Police
The National Police – a successful
    and community-based law enforce-
    ment authority

    The National Police is the central authority with respon-     As Commissioner it is therefore my goal to oversee an
    sibility for safeguarding internal security in our country.   open, community-based law enforcement organisation
    The tasks the National Police is required to perform          whose policing operations are dedicated at all times to
    have changed markedly over the years and have be-             the principles of commensurability and transparency.
    come increasingly complex. New forms of crimes in the         The successful police work of the past years and the
    digital world, the shifting leisure patterns of a “24-hour    positive feedback from many members of the popula-
    society”, the increased mobility of citizens as well as the   tion as well as from our foreign law enforcement partners
    internationalisation of crime in a globalised economy         confirm and support our approach.
    and in an united Europe place exacting demands on
    the organisation and personnel of the National Police in      This brochure is intended to contribute towards this
    qualitative as well as in quantitative terms. While we are    objective. It provides interested parties with information
    a small law enforcement authority, our daily remit is to      about the organisation, the responsibilities and activities
    face up to these huge challenges in order to enable the       as well as the history of the Liechtenstein National Po-
    inhabitants of Liechtenstein to live their lives in safety    lice, thereby providing insights into our country’s central
    and security. In order to fulfil this remit, we are depen-    law enforcement authority.
    dent upon the trust and understanding of the populati-
    on. They need to be aware of what the National Police
    does, as well as why and with what resources it goes
    about its business.
                                                                  Jules S. Hoch
                                                                  Commissioner

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For your safety. Your National Police
The National Police is the sole police authority in Liechtenstein. It has over
                                                                                        one hundred officers and other staff and is responsible for public security.

                                                     National Commissioner                                                                                   Jules S. Hoch
                                                     Jules S. Hoch                                                                                           Commissioner

                             Chief of Staff
                                                                              Commissioner’s Office
                             Uwe Langenbahn

                             Registry                                         Public Information Center
                                                                                                                                                             Uwe Langenbahn
                             Legal Service /                                                                                                                 Chief of Staff
                                                                              Finance & Controlling
                             Advisor for Data Protection

    Executive Support Division                       Security and Traffic Division                    Crime Investigation Division
    Uwe Langenbahn                                   Mario Büchel                                     Andreas Schädler

                                                                                                                                                             Mario Büchel
    System Organisation & Quality Department         Administration Security & Traffic Division       Administration Crime Investigation Division
                                                                                                                                                             Head of the Security and Traffic Division

    International Police Cooperation                 Security Unit                                    Crime Intelligence Unit

    Logistics                                        Traffic Unit                                     Financial Crime Unit

    Emergency Call & Dispatch Center                 Traffic Engineering & Prevention Unit            Special Offense Unit                                   Andreas Schädler
                                                                                                                                                             Head of the Crime Investigation Division
    Information Technology                           Special Police Unit (SWAT)                       Serious Crime Unit

    State Penitentiary                               Riot Police                                      Forensic Unit

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For your safety. Your National Police
Always there for you                                          Together we are strong

The Emergency Call and Dispatch Center takes emer-            Crime does not stop at the borders of the small state
gency calls, telephone calls or alarms over the numbers       of Liechtenstein. For this reason the question of inter-
112, 117 and 118. Our dispatchers staff work around           national police work has become hugely important.
the clock, 365 days in the year. They take a call on ave-     Liechtenstein’s compact dimensions mean there are
rage every nine minutes. Whether this involves simple         many cases that also involve neighbouring countries.
traffic accidents, domestic violence or other serious         Thanks to the trilateral Police Cooperation Treaty with
crimes, the response to every call has to be fast and         Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein has excellent
means the appropriate security and rescue organisa-           contacts in the field of cross-border cooperation. This
tions need to be assigned. These include, inter alia, the     is impressively manifested by mixed patrols, the prompt
units of the National Police, the fire brigade, the medical   exchange of information about current crime phe-
services, the mountain rescue and lifeguard service           nomena and specific events as well as coordinated
as well as crisis intervention teams. State-of-the-art        searches or manhunts.
communication and information technologies enable
us to respond quickly, efficiently and professionally to      Cooperation is maintained not merely regionally with
minor and major incidents as well as to any extraordi-        neighbouring police authorities in Switzerland and
nary events. Our mobile command post is deployed if           Austria, but also Europe-wide as a member of the
major deployments at particular locations need to be          Schengen Treaty and Europol as well as worldwide
coordinated. The available systems and databases make         via Interpol.
it possible to check individuals and vehicles quickly.
An effective analysis of the situation can be rapidly
established.

                                      The National Police ensures that Liechtenstein is provided with modern, res-
                                      ponsive and efficient emergency management. In the fight against crime we work
                                      closely together with our regional and international law enforcement partners.

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For your safety. Your National Police
On the road

The number of vehicles on Liechtenstein’s roads has          Checks are also necessary in the field of heavy goods
been rising inexorably. One of our principle tasks is        vehicles: adherence to driving hours, working hours and
to ensure that traffic safety is maintained, despite this    rest hours is checked on roads and at business sites.
increase. The steady presence of uniformed patrols as        In addition, the rules governing the transportation of
well as regular traffic and speed controls have a preven-    hazardous materials as well as the technical condition
tative effect. This boosts road safety and consequently      of vehicles are also checked. In order to minimise traffic
helps prevent accidents. Nevertheless, not all accidents     disruption, we even escort exceptional haulage loads
can be avoided. For this reason we immediately dis-          and draw up road traffic concepts together with the
patch officers whenever an accident is reported and          resulting traffic management measures at major events.
ensure that the necessary measures are taken at the          A range of security measures are moreover implement-
site: securing the site of the accident, providing injured   ed during state visits and state guests are provided with
persons with assistance, coordinating urgent immediate       motorbike escorts.
measures and conducting the necessary investigations.
                                                             Ever-shifting networks mean the level of support pro-
                                                             vided for other organisations in Liechtenstein and abroad
                                                             is continuously rising. For this reason, legal and adminis-
                                                             trative cooperation have also become part of our regular
                                                             duties.

                                      Our responsibilities include responding immediately to traffic accidents
                                      and investigating such incidents, as well as our preventative presence
                                      on the streets.

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For your safety. Your National Police
Public safety and security

Within the context of the provision of basic police ser-       In order to ensure that public safety is maintained at
vices, we are responsible for maintaining law and order        major occasions such as sport events or on the national
in Liechtenstein. To enable us to respond quickly in an        holiday, Security Corps deployments are essential.
emergency, we have teams on call-duty around the               The presence of our security personnel prevents major
clock. Our patrols raise our public profile and signify that   escalations and can defuse conflicts through dialogue.
we can intervene immediately as and when required.             We are supported in such deployments by the auxiliary
Whether on account of thefts, violence or child welfare:       police, who work on a part-time basis. This unit can be
our day-to-day work involves assignments of all kinds.         drawn upon in conjunction with all duties of the National
Close links with other agencies and institutions are es-       Police linked to maintaining public order and security.
sential in many cases. Appropriate support is provided         Whereby its members are also integrated in regular shift
in cases of domestic violence as well as the escorting of      services in order to reinforce the front line police officers.
prisoners or the execution of court orders.
                                                               Police dogs are also an enormous help on account of
                                                               their acute sense of smell, and can be deployed in a
                                                               variety of ways. In regular training units, guard dogs and
                                                               sniffer dogs are taught by their handlers and prepared
                                                               for their deployment in operations.

                                      Permanent readiness as well as a rapid response is essential when it
                                      comes to maintaining law and order in Liechtenstein.

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For your safety. Your National Police
Meticulous investigations                                     Crime scene investigation

                                         Liechtenstein is considered one of the safest countries       Forensic experts and IT specialists make important
                                         in Europe. Despite this, crimes do occur. The National        contributions when it comes to investigating criminal
                                         Police conducts investigations in accordance with the         offences. They secure and analyse evidence of all kinds.
                                         Code of Criminal Procedure and helps the judiciary pros-      Their meticulous work is one of the crucial elements that
                                         ecute crimes. An analytical mind and tactical abilities are   contribute towards the solving of criminal offences. Our
                                         important preconditions when it comes to investigating        crime scene specialists are deployed in conjunction with
                                         criminal offences, tracking down fugitives and finding        financial and property offences, fires or unusual deaths,
                                         missing persons.                                              as well as following serious traffic accidents or work
                                                                                                       accidents. Thanks to state-of-the-art procedures and
                                         Complex investigations can keep our officers busy             methods, shoe imprints, fingerprints or biological traces
                                         for months. Every clue is followed up and every trace         (DNA) are secured at crime scenes. Forensic analysis
                                         is pursued. This is the only way to investigate cases.        and investigation in the laboratory as well as computer
                                         Close cooperation between detectives, forensic experts        forensic evaluation of data carriers by IT forensic experts
                                         and IT experts as well as other specialists is essential to   often provide the decisive evidence that enables a
                                         obtain a full understanding of complex criminal cases.        suspect to be convicted or exonerated. Cutting edge
                                         Tailored measures, combined with optimum teamwork,            technical equipment can trace the smallest possible
                                         enable suspects to be caught in conjunction with finan-       clues and can help to understand what actually hap-
                                         cial crimes, property and drug offences as well as any        pend at the crime scene.
                                         other crime.

     The National Police works to investigate criminal offences. Not always quite as
     fast as television detectives – but at least as meticulously and successfully.

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For your safety. Your National Police
Drawing attention to dangers

                                                            Road traffic and crime prevention are two important            However, we focus not only on road traffic safety. We
                                                            areas of work for the National Police. Dedicated road          also work on crime prevention. We raise public aware-
                                                            traffic education for the young aims to ensure that chil-      ness of potential risks with regular information and
                                                            dren learn the traffic rules. Specially trained road traffic   warnings in media. We inform the population about the
                                                            instructors familiarise young children, from kindergarten      sophisticated activities of fraudsters and thieves, explain
                                                            age upwards, with road traffic signs and the traffic rules.    the risks associated with surfing the Internet, and raise
                                                            Following these courses, participants can put their            awareness amongst the young about the dangers of
                                                            knowledge to the test in simulated traffic situations at       drug use. The National Police issues a wide range of
                                                            the road training centre operated by the National Police.      special brochures and flyers on specific topics. These
                                                            The programme aims to boost road safety and to redu-           are either distributed to interested parties, or can be
                                                            ce accidents amongst the youngest and most vulnera-            downloaded from our website.
                                                            ble members of the population.
                                                                                                                           Prevention is successful when attentive and alert citizens
                                                            In order to prevent traffic accidents and to improve road      are aware of risks, report criminal offences to the National
                                                            safety, we conduct several campaigns each year. The            Police without delay, and thus contribute to keeping
                                                            attention of the public is drawn to road traffic risks by      Liechtenstein safe.
                                                            means of posters and radio spots. The aim is to encour-
                                                            age drivers to modify their driving behaviour, and thus to
                                                            prevent accidents happening in the first place.

     Targeted prevention in the fields of road traffic and crime raises public
     understanding and awareness of dangers and risks.

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For your safety. Your National Police
Several special units undergo the very latest training and are provided with
     state-of-the-art equipment. This enables them to help realise particularly
     challenging policing tasks.

                                          Surveillance, arrests and
                                          identification

                                          The National Police has several special units. These          The Alpine Police is deployed to gather evidence follow-
                                          are deployed for specific purposes. All special units are     ing accidents in Alpine terrain, such as mountain and
                                          organised on the basis of a militia system, and undergo       skiing accidents, avalanches, paraglider and small air-
                                          permanent training.                                           craft incidents. The Alpine Police responds to accidents
                                                                                                        and conducts investigations in inaccessible terrain.
                                          The oldest and at the same time the largest special unit
                                          is the SWAT team. Its principal responsibilities include      If a major accident occurs, or if a crime resulting in nu-
                                          arresting potentially violent persons, protecting the state   merous deaths is committed, then the specialists of the
                                          guests of the Government and Princely Family as well          Disaster Victim Identification team (DVI) are deployed to
                                          as guarding buildings and events.                             identify the victims. These specialists need to possess
                                                                                                        a high degree of mental resilience and psychological
                                          The Surveillance team works closely together with             strength for their difficult task. As members of the Swiss
                                          the SWAT team. Specially trained police officers are          DVI team, our specialists are also deployed abroad.
                                          responsible for the covert surveillance of suspects. Pa-
                                          tience and a sharp eye are essential when it comes to
                                          obtaining useful information about suspects. In today’s
                                          environment, surveillance operations are important in
                                          the fight against crime. This has become an essential
                                          part of the investigative process.

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For your safety. Your National Police
Police careers

Police officer is an out-of-the-ordinary profession,          Upon passing the final examination at the end of the
multifaceted and exciting. The work differs from that in      training at the Police Academy, the candidates are
the private sector in many ways. Each day is different        awarded a Federal Diploma and are admitted to the
and presents new challenges. A quick learning ability         National Police as sworn in police officers.
and carefully considered responses are required when
officers are sent out on deployments. This makes the          Specialists may also be recruited externally for man-
work of police officers versatile and keeps monotony          agement tasks and special police functions. The police
and routine at bay.                                           training for these individuals is then completed on an
                                                              in-service education, on the one hand internally at the
As a rule, the path to the National Police leads via the      National Police and on the other at police training insti-
Police Academy of Eastern Switzerland, where Liechten-        tutions abroad.
stein police candidates spend one year in training. This
is because the National Police, on account of its small
size, does not maintain its own training facilities. Before
being accepted as a police candidate by the National
Police, the prospective officer must pass a written en-
trance examination as well as a fitness test. The criteria
that potential candidates need to fulfil in order to be
admitted to the entrance procedures are stipulated in
the Police Act.

                                      Police officer – an exciting and multifaceted profession with new daily
                                      challenges that keep monotony and routine at bay.

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In the beginning the Princely Liechtenstein Security Corps had seven police
     officers – today over one hundred National Police officers and other staff
     safeguard internal security in Liechtenstein.

                                         How it all began …
                                         Up until the 18th century parish priests and parish            After the First World War, pressure arose once again
                                         councillors were responsible for maintaining peace and         to reform the police force in Liechtenstein. This took
                                         security in our municipalities. At that time, a dedicated      account of the political and social changes in Liechten-
                                         police force did not exist. It was only during the course      stein and abroad.
                                         of the 18th century that two bailiffs were appointed to
                                         maintain peace and security. At the beginning of the 19th      In the year 1932, the Princely Liechtenstein Security
                                         century responsibility for public security was assigned to     Corps was established as a uniformed and armed civil
                                         the municipalities. Each municipality was then required        guard. This body was charged with maintaining peace,
                                         to pay for a part-time “police-soldier” (army veterans).       order and security. Seven police officers joined in April
                                         However, these police-soldiers had an extremely poor           1933, having completed their training at the Gendarme-
                                         reputation, as the municipalities – no doubt for reasons       rie Academy in Austria. They were provided with quar-
                                         of cost – tended to appoint very poor or disabled indi-        ters in the Government Building in Vaduz. From 1937
                                         viduals to these posts. It was not before the mid 19th         onwards they were supported by a steadily growing
                                         century that Liechtenstein acquired five uniformed and         number of auxiliary police officers.
                                         armed – although still untrained – police officers. These
                                         were responsible for guarding the borders, as well as          By the end of the 1950s it was apparent that the
                                         for undertaking security corps duties. A new bailiff legis-    existing structure of the Security Corps had become
                                         lation was introduced in 1871 on account of the unsat-         outdated and needed to be overhauled. For this reason
                                         isfactory security situation – numerous “tricksters and        the then Commissioner initiated a reorganisation. This
                                         vagabonds” were roaming the country. The goal of this          was completed in the year 1964, when the “Service
                                         police reform was to improve the effectiveness of the          Instruction” decree was issued by the Princely Govern-
                                         police force, to reduce begging and to monitor fire pro-       ment. Restructuring the corps into three divisions, the
                                         tection as well as building regulations more effectively. In   Administration Division, the Crime Division and the
                                         order to make the work of the bailiffs less arduous, they      Traffic Division, made it possible for police work to
                                         were permitted to use the public buses while on duty. In       become specialised for the first time.
                                         addition, a “state telephone” was installed.

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An important step in the direction of international            In view of the increasingly international nature of crime,
cooperation and the fight against crime was taken in           the National Police found itself obliged, as a small law
1960 when Liechtenstein joined Interpol (International         enforcement authority, to promote greater cooperation
Criminal Police Organisation). As the Interpol bureau          in the field of police work and to build up international
was built up, international contacts were strengthened         networks. In the year 2001 this intensified new focus
and became increasingly important.                             across national borders led to the trilateral Police Co-
                                                               operation Treaty with Switzerland and Austria – our two
The police force suffered a heavy blow in the year 1986        most important cooperation partners. Only two years
when the then head of the Crime Investigation Division         later the National Police became an associate member
was shot while on duty. As a direct consequence of this        of the Eastern Switzerland Police Concordat (Ostpol).
dramatic event, on the one hand the equipment of the           This was an important step for strategic and operative
Security Corps was modernised, while on the other a            cooperation, resulting in dedicated working groups and
SWAT team was created to respond to violent offenders.         specialist panels. For example, joint situation analyses
                                                               are drawn up and equipment and deployment tactics
The new Police Act that came into force at the end of          are coordinated, thus simplifying joint police operations.
the 1980s saw the “Princely Security Corps” renamed            Training was also standardised with the foundation of
the “National Police”. On account of the shortage of           the Police Academy of Eastern Switzerland in the year
space in the government building, a new dedicated              2006. In its capacity as an Ostpol member, the Natio-
police building was constructed. This was designed             nal Police can also participate in jointly-run centres of
especially with the needs of the police service in mind,       excellence – for example, forensic science. This gives it
and became operational in 1991. For the National Police        access to expertise that it would not be able to maintain
this relocation marked the beginning of a new era of           independently. The Polycom radio network operated
technology, as the first computers were introduced only        jointly with Switzerland is another example of this close
shortly thereafter. In 1995 the first women police officers    regional cooperation in the field of security.
took their oaths with the National Police. Two years later
the uniforms were changed. This made the transforma-           However, police cooperation also extends beyond that
tion of the Security Corps into the National Police visually   with our immediate neighbours. In December 2011
apparent. After over 60 years in olive green, the police       Liechtenstein joined the Schengen area. As a conse-
were given a more contemporary and more functional             quence, the National Police established a so called SI-
blue uniform.                                                  RENE office providing access to Europe-wide searches
                                                               for persons and property. As a member of Europol, the
In 1999 the National Police was reorganised once               National Police also benefits from the large network of
again and the number of operative divisions was re-            liaison officers at this institution’s headquarters in The
duced to two. Due to the financial market turmoil that         Hague (NL), as well as from the in-depth analysis of a
occurred in the year 2000, an unit was created in the          wide range of crime phenomena. The sole liaison officer
Crime Investigation Division to fight economic crimes          of the National Police is also accredited to Europol.
and organised crime. In this conjunction, for the first
time in the history of the National Police, foreign citizens
were also admitted to the police force.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      LI-9490 Vaduz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Gewerbeweg 4
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     National Police

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                F +423 236 77 22
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   T +423 236 71 11

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        info@landespolizei.li
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 www.landespolizei.li
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Principality of Liechtenstein

© National Police of the Principality of Liechtenstein, 2014   Published by National Police of the Principality of Liechtenstein Editorial content Jules S. Hoch, Tina Enz Design Mathias Marxer Est., Triesen
Translations Interlingua Anstalt, Vaduz Photography Martin Walser, Vaduz; Close up AG, Triesen; National Police Archive Lithography Prepair Druckvorstufen AG, Schaan Printed by Governmental Print Service
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