A late 1938 source states that it was by then the intention to have towns with a population of over 100,000 policed by the Schutzpolizei des Reichs, whilst the smaller ones would have Schutzpolizei der Gemeinden.
Did this in fact happen and was the rule respected to the letter?
I'm tempted to check the 1938 populations of all the towns having a Kommandeur der Schupo, but perhaps some kind soul out there can save me the trouble!
Thanks
hpt
This hasn't attracted much attention, perhaps the title is boring.
If anyone does stumble across this post, can I add another question?
In which towns (and when and why) were Schupo downgraded to Gempo, and viceversa?
Just a thought...
hpt
Hello,
My experience has been that when considering all things police NONE of the rules were followed to the letter. GEMPO artifacts are very rare, so I can't believe that all jurisdictions that were suppossed to raise GEMPO actually did so. My understanding is that the GEMPO were raised and uniformed by the local "small town" at their pleasure. They were supposed to be absorbed into the SCHUPO. BUT there are many examples of late war GEMPO uniforms with un-named eagles suggesting that this branch continued to be uniformed long after they were not suppossed to be around.
I have no regulations to present, but it is my opinion that some jurisdictions liked having their own local police even after they were under the protection of the SCHUPO and that they hired them even up to the end of the war.
As an eagle collector I can say that named GEMPO eagles are amongst the hardest of all to find, so staffing must never have been very high.
Regards,
William Unland
Hugh / Bill
I thought I would just chime in, although my area of specialty is post war German police.
I agree with Bill in that I doubt that all small towns actually raised their own departments. By way of comparison, take the post war Bavaria Police.
After the war, many smaller towns had their own (titled: stadt or gemeinde) police forces. These departments were mostly single digit personnel size. They ran concurrently with the state police, until 1953 when these smaller departments began being merged into the state police. Eventually all were merged, the last being Munich in 1975.
At their inception, there were only about 150 individual departments, so it is clear that not all towns had individual departments.
It's my opinion that just because they "could" didn't mean they actually did. This more than likely was the case during WWII. They may have had the option, but might not have implemented it.
Nor do I believe the SchuPo was down graded to GemPo status. More likely, the Gendarme just took to covering these more rural areas.
Again, just my .02 cents based on what I have observed in post war policing.
Andrew
Great input, a lot to chew on and consider: thanks so much!
hpt
Hugh
Like I said, thats just my thoughts. I would trust Bill a whole lot more.
He hit the mark when he wrote "...when considering all things police NONE of the rules were followed to the letter."
That is a statement that has probably withstood the tests of time for hundreds of years. I look back on my career and all the changes the brass thought were "great ideas" and we laughed at in the field.
Sometimes "paper orders" were simply a mode of self-protection for those back at the desks who didn't have to deal with the problem hands on.
This might have been a case of the "Schutzpolizei des Reichs" informing the smaller towns that self policing was there concern, because they might not have the available manpower resources to patrol those smaller cities and towns.
Then again I am just speculating on something that is almost 70 years old.
Andrew