Martin Kreutner
Martin Kreutner is currently the Director of the Federal Bureau for Internal Affairs, within the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Austria.
Born in 1964; Studied law at the University of Innsbruck. Commissioned officer in the Austrian Armed Forces with various troop, staff and ministerial assignments; served a total of five years with different UN and NATO missions in Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Albania. In 2000, he transferred to the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior and was commissioned to build up a police oversight and anti-corruption service unit (BIA); since 2001 heads the Austrian Federal Bureau for Internal Affai
rs (BIA); 2004 obtained an additional degree as Master of Science in Policing and Public Order Studies at the University of Leicester in U.K.; guest-lectured on international humanitarian law at the German Red Cross, as well as the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany; he also lectured on general and special security, police oversight and anti-corruption topics at several European security and military academies as well as universities. In the course of his work he has spoken widely at international conferences – inter alia – in Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Jordan, the USA, Thailand, and throughout Europe.
Member of Interpol’s International Group of Experts on Corruption, Chair of the EU network European Partners Against Corruption (together with the Head of Comité P, BE), member of the Advisory Board to Transparency International – Chapter Austria; he is a court expert on general criminology as well as VIP protection, in addition to being chairman of the Supreme Disciplinary Commission of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and member of the Federal Appeals Tribunal; author of many articles and papers on security issues, editor of a book on corruption (2006) and co-author of a legal commentary (2005).
The Federal Bureau for Internal Affairs (BIA) is the police oversight and anti-corruption department of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. In order to document a reasonable degree of independence, it was set up outside the classical law enforcement hierarchies, i.e. the Directorate-General for Public Security.
In its capacity to act as the Directorate-General for Public Security when dealing with matters of the security administration, the BIA conducts security and criminal police investigations in cases of corruption or suspected malpractice by public officers. In such cases, the BIA cooperates directly with the competent public prosecutor’s offices and courts.
The BIA conducts investigations nationwide and, given its sphere of responsibilities, represents a centre of competence for all other security services. Other important tasks performed by the BIA are training programmes and the prevention of corruption and any kind of malpractice within the police force. In addition to organizing and conducting courses, seminars and advanced career coaching programmes at the Austrian Law Enforcement Academy (SIAK) for colleagues from the Ministry of the Interior, BIA staff members are regularly invited to give lectures at various national and international educational institutions and at conferences. The BIA acts as the Ministry’s contact point for all police oversight and anti-corruption matters and delegates staff members to Austrian and international meetings of experts. Furthermore, it interacts with a number of government bodies, IOs, NGOs, and interest groups involved in police oversight and anti-corruption activities worldwide.
The BIA is composed of four departments: Administration & Logistics, Operational & Management Assistance, Operational Service, as well as Prevention & External Relations. At present, the BIA’s staff consists of 53 highly committed male and female officers from all Austrian regions (i.e. Bundesländer). Applications for employment with the BIA are exclusively voluntary; admissions are dependent on profound experience, special training and a strict selection procedure. Assignments are subject to a principle of rotation.
Martin Kreutner holds one of four places on the INIOP steering group set aside for agencies working in Europe.
