The Bavarian State Police () is the state police force of the German state of Bavaria under the umbrella of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. It has approximately 33,500 armed officers and roughly 8,500 other civilian employees. Organization The 10 regional police authorities in Bavaria are: Munich (Polizeipräsidium München) Central Franconia: Nuremberg Lower Franconia: Würzburg Upper Franconia: Bayreuth Upper Palatinate: Regensburg Lower Bavaria: Straubing Upper Bavaria-South: Rosenheim Upper Bavaria-North: Ingolstadt Swabia-North: Augsburg Swabia-South: Kempten Bavaria reorganised hierarchy structures between 2005 and 2008 to reduce bureaucracy, changing from a four-tier hierarchy (Interior Ministry– Regional administration – Police Department – Police Station) to three levels (Interior Ministry, Regional Police Authority, Police Station). The seven Polizeipräsidien in Würzburg, Bayreuth, Regensburg, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich and Oberbayern (HQ in Munich) gave way to the 10 new areas and the Polizeidirektionen disappeared. The reorganisation required the rewiring of all police radio and emergency notification networks which are not located only at each regional police authority. State Police Units Auxiliary State Police Citizens in Bavaria have been participating in public safety since 1994. This commitment to civic action is seen in the Sicherheitswacht auxiliary state police program, where approx. 800 citizens in 125 Bavarian towns (July 2016) voluntarily assist their local police. Bavarian Border Police Due to the European migrant crisis in 2015, the Bavarian State Government re-established the Bavarian Border Police in 2018 to support the Federal Police to protect the border to Austria, to the Czech Republic and at the Nuremberg Airport. Bereitschaftspolizei The Police Support Group HQ (Bereitschaftspolizeipräsidium) in Bamberg employs 6,000 officers and civilian staff at seven Bereitschaftspolizeiabteilungen (BPA), the police schools, the police orchestra and the police helicopter squadron. The BPAs are situated in Munich, Eichstätt, Würzburg, Nuremberg, Königsbrunn, Dachau and Sulzbach-Rosenberg and have 10 companies as the state’s mobile police reserve. The helicopter squadron has nine modern choppers stationed at Munich Airport and Roth Airfield near Nuremberg. Bavaria has two basic training schools, one professional development school and a police dog school. Special Units Bavaria has different special units, which are the two Spezialeinsatzkommandos (SEK) (police tactical units), one is stationed in Nuremberg for use in the north of the state and one is attached to the Munich Police Department to cover the south of Bavaria. The SEK of South Bavaria has a mountain detachment for operations in the Alps. three Mobile Einsatzkommandos (MEK) (mobile response units), one of which