Radi zloupotrebe policijskog aparata u nacističkoj Njemačkoj, Zapadna Njemačka je decentralizirala policiju i predala je u nadležnost saveznih država. Jedine policijske organizacije na saveznom nivou su bile Savezna granična kontrola, Savezni ured kriminalističke policije te Policija Saveznog parlamenta.

      Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally solely vested in the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Carabinieri, Police Nationale, FBI or RCMP. Police has always been a responsibility of the German states and was continued after 1871 when the country was unified. The constitution of the Weimar Republic 1919 did provide for the possibility of creating a national police force, should the necessity arise, but it was only in the Nazi era, that a national police force was created and the state police forces were unified under central control. The police became a tool of the centralized state and the Nazi party. Following the defeat of 1945, Germany was divided; in 1949 the three western zones were turned into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), the eastern zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Each country pursued a different path concerning law enforcement.

      In light of the gross misuse of power by the centralized Nazi state the new constitution of West Germany provided for a strict separation of powers, placing law enforcement firmly in the hands of the states. The only policing allowed on the federal level was border control (Bundesgrenzschutz including coast guard), controlled by the Ministry of Interior and originally organized along paramilitary lines, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Police of the parliament.

      Njemačka je uvela uniforme u dvije boje, zelenoj i kaki, koje je dizajnirao Heinz Oestergaard 1976. godine. Kako je u većini zemalja Evropske Unije plavo boja policijskih uniformi i Njemačka se odlučila zamijeniti svoje tradicionalne uniforme plavima. I oprema i automobili mijenjaju boju u plavu. To ne rade odjednom, već postepeno. Nova oprema i uniforme biti će zamijenjene u nekoliko godina. Samo dvije savezne države, Bavarska i Saarland ne žele napustiti stari dizajn. Prva država koja je zamijenila uniforme je Hamburg.

      Germany introduced green and khaki uniforms designed by Heinz Oestergaard in 1976. However, because most European countries have blue or black police uniforms, most German states as well as the federal police are introducing newly designed blue uniforms to conform with the common image of the police in Europe. At present only the police forces in Bavaria and the Saarland are not intending to alter the 1976 design, whereas the other states have already begun or completed the shift from green to blue. In line with the uniforms (including the ranks) police vehicles and various items of equipment are also changing colour from green to blue. Hamburg was the first state to make the transition.