NCJ Number
134990
Date Published
1992
Length
264 pages
Annotation
Based on the author's first-hand research conducted over a 6-year period from 1985 to the present, this case study examines how the society formerly constituted as the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has been transformed politically, socially, and economically since the 1989 revolution and reincorporation with the rest of Germany, with attention to how the People's Police and the State Security Police have changed along with principles of criminal justice and methods of governance.
Abstract
The introduction to Part I focuses on the socialist nature and political structure of the GDR. In the following two chapters, the functions of People's Police and the State Security police prior to reunification are examined. Part II begins with a brief discussion of aspects of the revolution during the fall of 1989 that impinged directly on policing. It then considers changes in the policing system during the interim before unification with the Federal Republic of Germany. There are chapters on controversial issues that arose during the process of dissolution of the State Security Police and transitions in the German People's Police. Under reunification, the government hopes that the misuse of police power in the GDR can be curbed through new policies of transparency, parliamentary oversight, administrative restructuring, and legal accountability. In anticipation of the unitary Federal system under reunification, GDR police officials began the process of bringing administrative structure and legal regulations into conformity with the police practices and law of the Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification. The likelihood of the prosecution of former GDR officials is discussed. Chapters notes, 250 references, and a subject index