Exekutivorgane#

Law Enforcement Officers, bodies entrusted with the maintenance of public order. They act as supporting agents of an authority and have to carry out the orders of that authority. They include the following bodies: Bundesgendarmerie (federal gendarmerie), Bundessicherheitswache (federal security police, subordinated to the Federal Police Authority), officers of the criminal investigation department, plain-clothes officers, subordinated to the Federal Police Authority), staedtische Sicherheitswache or Stadtwache (urban security guards, e.g. in Baden bei Wien, Waidhofen an der Ybbs) acting as local police forces, Justizwache (part of the Ministry of Justice, guarding prisons and penal institutions), border police and customs officers. Under certain circumstances, which are laid down in the Use of Weapons Law of 1969, law enforcement agents are allowed to use weapons (e.g. justifiable self-defence, or as a last resort to prevent dangerous criminals from escaping).