Kehl (dpa / lsw) - German and French law enforcement officers have been jointly controlling shipping on the Rhine for a good ten years. "It has been a success story so far," said State Criminal Director Klaus Ziwey on Wednesday in Kehl (Ortenaukreis) at a celebration of the Franco-German water police station. This unit has a pioneering role because it was the first in operational cooperation. There is now also a joint Franco-German police post in the Europa-Park amusement park in Rust, said the country's highest-ranking detective.
Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) announced on the occasion of the anniversary that it was a "European example of a cross-border security policy that is lived and practiced on a daily basis". He reminded that since July an international agreement has secured cooperation in the water police.
The joint station officially started operations in March 2012. It has locations in Kehl and in the Alsatian towns of Vogelgrun and Gambsheim. Police officers and gendarmes control shipping, record accidents and search for missing persons - divers are also deployed. As Ziwey reported, a joint, almost 18 meter long boat is being built in Brittany, which is expected to patrol the Rhine from next year.
The French station manager Pierre-Michel Arcade from the gendarmerie reported in passing that the officials had uncovered an unannounced trade in metal scrap from France to Germany after a long investigation. The metal waste was therefore transported by road, but ended up in the port area - and thus in the area of responsibility of the water police. The gendarmerie is part of the armed forces in France, but also performs police tasks.
