NCJ Number
78926
Date Published
1980
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The development and present state of techniques in West Germany for staging large-scale manhunts are outlined.
Abstract
Until the end of the 1960's, manhunts in West Germany were usually conducted on a local or regional level. The most extensive dragnet to date occurred on April 15, 1975, when 14,478 police officers of various branches were set in motion to apprehend violent terrorists. After months of planning, the results were rather disappointing, especially as 200 manhours were spent to apprehend each of the 159 people arrested. It was then decided that large-scale national manhunts were not effective enough to warrant repetition. Instead, every State is divided into search regions, and at least one intensive search and seizure operation is carried out for 2 hours every month in each region. This sytem appears to be more cost-effective than the previous one. However, improvements in planning, coordination, and direction of search operations are essential to make the approach a success. After the murder of Hans-Martin Schleyer in 1977, a continuous dragnet has been underway using special traffic patrol units. The success of these efforts has been limited because little real information has been gained about terrorist activities and because participating officers tend to lose their motivation after long inactive periods. Computer information systems are essential to the success of large-scale search operations, but mobile terminals must be introduced and data system maintenance efforts curtailed during the actual operations to improve the speed of information exchange. Border searches are an effective means of apprehending international terrorists, but stopping all traffic is not desirable, so regular checks should be supplemented by plain-clothes observers and special patrols. A new set of police rules seeks to guarantee the effectiveness of large-scale searches. It is concluded that, regardless of success, manhunts do limit the activities of wanted terrorists that national manhunts should only be ordered as the result of immediate events, and that such searches should be planned in detail for target regions. Police should intensify publicity about the search, carefully analyze available information and logistics, limit their active efforts to a short period of time, and plan use of helicopters, patrols, and information channels in advance. Efforts must be made to refine search methods to increase success rates.