Focus on cybercrime: Kripo gets new tasks and more staff

It is the “largest criminal service reform since the merger of the police and gendarmerie,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (VP) when presenting the new concept, which is intended to make the executive more effective, especially against cybercrime and organized crime (OC).

For this reason, additional detective jobs are also to be created in rural areas: around 700 nationwide and almost 100 in Upper Austria. A total of 38 criminal assistance agencies (KAD) are to be created.

These are intended to support the police inspections and district police commands, but do not represent “an additional hierarchy”, as was emphasized. In Upper Austria, the KAD are planned for seven regions, as informed by State Police Director Andreas Pilsl. There should be one location each in the Innviertel and Mühlviertel, and the Wels and Wels-Land regions, including the Grieskirchen district, should also have such an office, as should the Vöcklabruck and Gmunden, Steyr and Steyr-Land regions together with the Kirchdorf district. Only the district of Linz-Land is so large that it has its own KAD, as does the city of Linz. The search for suitable locations and buildings is already under way.

The KAD officials are supposed to take care of securing evidence full-time and thus relieve the officials who have previously done this on the side at the district level. In addition, they should support the investigators with their expertise in cybercrime and carry out preventive work. If, for example, there is a love scam on the Internet in Gmunden, the investigations remain on site, but online traces and evidence are to be evaluated by the KAD experts. “They should give feedback to colleagues outside. All cases should come together in the State Criminal Police Office,” says Pilsl. The know-how should “spread out,” says Upper Austria’s police chief, who worked out the reform together with Katja Tersch, head of the Tyrolean State Criminal Police Office. The State Criminal Police Offices are setting up their own OC departments, with the focus on smuggling, drug and arms trafficking.

There will also be restructuring. Up to now, “life and limb”, “robbery”, “moral offences” and “arson” have each been separate areas of investigation in the LKA. They are now to be combined into a common “violence report”. This also includes child pornography.

The approximately 900 police departments (PI) nationwide can also operate a criminal service. So far, however, there has not been a uniform regulation as to the size from which they have to do this. Pilsl says that it has now been established that if there are 19 officers or more, a crime department is mandatory in a police station. In addition, every department with at least five police officers must have an officer who specializes in cybercrime.