NCJ Number
131233
Journal
Kriminalist Volume: 22 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1990) Pages: 386-387
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Fire investigation units (BUK) are praised as a highly effective aspect of the East German police force.
Abstract
The BUK is a special investigation unit of the criminal police designed to investigate fires, explosions, and crime related catastrophes. Each large police district has its own BUK whose size depends on economic, political, and policing condition of the area. In case of major fires, the core commission may receive help from other criminal investigators who have undergone basic training in fire investigations. In such an event, the core BUK members head five groups, each of which has its own task: (1) crime scene search and securing of evidence, (2) leads and suspects follow-up, (3) questioning of eyewitnesses, (4) investigation of persons who entered and left the scene of the crime, and (5) coordination of the four other groups and maintenance of a continuous communication flow. The article concludes that the lasting success of the BUK justifies maintaining it as a separate police unit in the future united Germany.