DDR Police Shoulder Patches

[gwb123]

Our member Proud Kraut shared a great thread about the variety of DDR Rank and Cloth insignia.

 

http://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/314291-ddr-rank-cloth-insignia/

 

I noticed in frame #12 he included a number of police shoulder patches. I've have a handful of them for years, and would like to share a closer look.

 

Up first is the Abschnitts-Bevollmachtigter.

 

A translated Wikipedia article relates the following:

 

A section representative (ABV) was in the GDR a police officer of the People's Police (VP), who was responsible for the police duties in municipalities, municipalities and on stretches of the Reichsbahn. In his section he was police contact for the residents and provided patrol . He was responsible for receiving and forwarding criminal charges and police prevention . The ABV had similar tasks as a current contact area officer of the police. He held the rank of second lieutenant or lieutenant.

In addition, in its section, the ABV was responsible for traffic control, compliance checks ( house books ) and outside visitors, and the control of government officials. He made assessments of residents of his section, for example, if the decision was taken to re-issue a driving license for a suspension or to authorize a trip to the non-socialist economic area . To approve such trips, ABV's assessments were reviewed by relevant officers of the Ministry of State Security and served as a basis for approval or denial.

The ABV were introduced from October 1952 on the Soviet model. The number of ABV varied as follows:

• Berlin and big cities: per police station 8 to 9
• in middle-class towns, which mostly had only one area: 9 to 12
• in county towns: 6 to 12
• in the territory of a district depending on the density of housing : 40 to 80

The ABV in the GDR also received support from about 158,000 volunteer civilian helpers from the VP , of which about 10,000 were female (as of July 1989).

 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abschnittsbevollm%C3%A4chtigter

 

[gwb123]

The color of these patches is actually a bit more green, or feldgrau than the scan will show.

 

They are made of an odd material, which looks and feels like compressed felt. They are very light weight and do not appear to be very durable. They are cut edge with a double border, a dark green outside of the silver. The thread is not a bullion, but still has a silver appearance. All of them had a loose excess thread across the back.

 

These were all made in the same manner. Apparently they are readily available on-line.

[gwb123]

Next is the Betriebsschultz.

 

One translation I have seen is "Industrial Security Police", while others suggest a health and safety role as well.

[gwb123]

Schutzpolizei seems to translate as "security police", which we would understand to be regular uniformed police officers.

[SARGE]

Hi Gil,

 

Your first patch, "Abschnitts-Bevollmachtigter", can be roughly translated as what we know in the US as a Community Police Officer. These policemen are supposed to live in the district and do a lot of foot patrol to "show the flag" in a less confrontational style. They are responsible for the crime rate on their beat and they work with community leaders, store owners, residents, etc. to be a one-stop-cop who can do dispute resolution or handle cases from start to finish.

 

Here is a Volkspolizei Unterleutnant uniform showing the color of the patch a bit better. BTW, not all DDR Volkspolizei wore patches.

 

 

 

[SARGE]

Here is your "Betriebsschutz" patch on a Volkspolizei NCO uniform. These "Industrial Security Police" might best be described as what we know in the West as Public Safety Officers. They are assigned to an industrial plant to root out any internal or external threats to the means of the people's production and are also concerned with fire prevention and accident safety for the workers. They had a lot of specialized training in the means and methods of production in their specific plant.

 

 

[SARGE]

And finally... your "Schutzpolizei" patch on a TRAPO uniform. The Transport Polizei wore a blue VP uniform with light blue piping so their shoulder patches were blue instead of green. These were, as you say, what we think of as regular police officers who walked a beat or patrolled in motor vehicles. TRAPO had responsibility for policing most forms of public transportation such as trains, U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses, stations, etc. This fellow is also a Volkspolizei NCO with over five years of service according to the sleeve chevron. He also has a dog handler specialty as indicated by the clasp over his right breast pocket.

 

 

 

[Proud Kraut]

Great patches and uniforms. I would like to add that BeVo like woven variants of the patches do exist as well. After unification in 1990 former DDR police units continue to wear their uniforms for some time. Until they received their new uniforms patches were worn with the DDR symbol replaced by the German black/red/yellow colors.

[SARGE]

Great patches and uniforms. I would like to add that BeVo like woven variants of the patches do exist as well. After unification in 1990 former DDR police units continue to wear their uniforms for some time. Until they received their new uniforms patches were worn with the DDR symbol replaced by the German black/red/yellow colors.

 

Yes, the transitional patches are very interesting. I was in Dresden right after the fall of the wall and visited the Police HQ next to the bombed out church/monument that they were thinking of rebuilding. Of course we traded patches and all they had were the old DDR patches taken off their uniforms. They apologized that they could not get enough new patches for working cops and they were limited to giving each one two (2) new ones to sew on their tunic and shirt so no new ones for trade.

[gwb123]

Great examples and stories, guys! I am glad this thread spurred some discussion.

 

I thought I had found a online website that explained the distinctions in more detail, but of course when it came time to post this I could not find it again!

[Old Marine]

I had these blue police patches lying in the box for years and never knew much about them. Thanks for posting the photo of the uniform, its good to see how they were worn on the uniform.

[Old Marine]

These two are BEVO patches. Why are these green?

[Proud Kraut]

These two are BEVO patches. Why are these green?

 

A well known variation. I have seen these in light, medium and dark green shades, also to match the different types of uniform elements.

 

Enlargement of a previously posted picture. Encircled in red the different variations of the "transition style" shoulder patches with German colors.

 

[Old Marine]

Thanks Lars.