The State Office of Criminal Investigation of Lower Saxony (Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen; LKA NI), based in Hanover, is the competent, capable and impulse-giving central office for the successful fight against and prevention of crime in Lower Saxony, as well as an essential provider of internal security and a central point of contact in federal-state cooperation. It also considers itself a ""service provider"" in that it provides advice and support to the regional police stations in Lower Saxony.
The LKA NI is organised into six departments, the authority staff and the authority management, and is headed by the president. The LKA NI's areas of activity are varied and, in addition to general administrative tasks, include operational and investigative support, analysis and investigations, police state security, the Forensic Science Institute (Kriminaltechnisches Institut; KTI), The Digital Service and Competence Centre and the project ""Computing and Service Centre for Telecommunications Surveillance Police in the North German Coastal States Network"" (Rechen- und Dienstleistungszentrum Telekommunikationsüberwachung Polizei im Verbund der norddeutschen Küstenländer; RDZ).
As the central office of the Lower Saxony police, the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Lower Saxony ensures the exchange of information across federal states with the other State Offices of Criminal Investigation and with the Federal Criminal Police Office.
The generation of knowledge through empirical research and the validation of data support the diverse areas of activity of the LKA NI
Within the LKA NI, criminological research is integrated into the Department of Research, Prevention and Youth (Dezernat Forschung, Prävention, Jugend; FPJ), which is part of the authority management. The FPJ department strives to incorporate scientific findings directly into practical police (prevention) work and to create research impulses from practical work. Research projects are conducted on relevant criminological phenomena. The tasks of research at LKA NI include identifying changes in the development of crime in both the light and dark fields and developing concepts to adequately counter trends and developments that have been identified.
At present, criminological research at the LKA NI focuses on the following key topics:
• Urban security
• Dark field research
• Crime prevention by police
• Phenomena-based research and development of guidelines and tools
• Juvenile delinquency
• Radicalisation
Part of the objective of these tasks is the supra-regional and international co-operation with external institutions, universities and other federal and state law enforcement agencies.
Forensic science and technology research is carried out at LKA NI by the Forensic Science Institute (Kriminaltechnischen Institut; KTI). The KTI of the LKA NI is the central forensic scientific-technical facility of the Lower Saxony police.
Within the organisational plan of the LKA NI, the KTI is shown as Department 5. This department is divided into five divisions, comprising the faculties for biology, physics, chemistry, dactyloscopy and central forensics.
The KTI employs scientists with a degree in natural sciences from a university, college or polytechnic, as well as technicians and specialists. The staff of around 200 process approximately 45,000 investigation requests with some 250,000 trace and comparative materials each year. In addition, existing methods are constantly being further developed and optimised, including as part of research projects (e.g. IFS-funded projects). The KTI is also actively involved in the development of standards for forensic science in the CEN 419 and ISO TC 272 standardisation committees.
