BK - The Criminal Intelligence Service of Austria (Bundeskriminalamt)
The Criminal Intelligence Service of Austria (BK) was established in 2002 and is part of the Directorate General for Public Security of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Its purpose is to fight crime and is the national and international contact for police cooperation. As the central office in Austria, the BK provides professional support in all areas of criminal investigation to Austrian law enforcement officers.
The BK currently has around 800 employees and is divided in the following 7 departments:
- Department 1 – Crime Strategy and Central Administration;
- Department 2 – International Police Cooperation and Wanted/Missing Persons and Stolen Property;
- Department 3 – Investigations, Organized Crime, and General Crime;
- Department 4 – Crime analysis;
- Department 5 – CID support services;
- Department 6 – Forensics;
- Department 7 – Economic crime.
The BK is Austria’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters and international contact point. It is involved in high-level information management. For example, the data contained in the Crime Monitor, a database of all complaints and reports filed with the police, are accessible online to each of Austria’s more than 25,000 law enforcement officers for strategic analysis.
The BK also provides regular police support activities to all criminal investigation services, such as fugitive pursuit, witness protection and undercover investigation.
In 2012, a Cybercrime Competence Centre was established. In 2016, the BK has opened in Vienna a new Joint Operational Office (JOO) for combating human smuggling and human trafficking. The JOO serves as a regional operational platform for international investigations into migrant smuggling organised crime groups, as well as, a contact point for third parties in the source region of migration.
In order quickly to identify trends and develop effective strategies in advance, all security authorities and security services must work together, including within the framework of international police cooperation. This only works using modern analysis tools. The BK manages the Austrian criminal strategy and evaluates its results. The BK also coordinates criminal police training throughout Austria and initiates international police projects.
The BK is SEPCA’s trustful partner and during more than one decade offered its expertise and financial support that helped SEPCA to enhance its capacities in fighting crime and to secure the region.