The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA--Federal Criminal Police Office), under the amended law of 1973, is now the central police agency for the electronic data network maintained jointly by the Federal Government and the States. The network allows all participating agencies immediate access to agency information entered by one agency via data lines. The article describes the network principles of organization, data protection and security measures, elimination of records, INPOL conventions regulating the exchange of data between participating systems, and data, message exchange, image, and other services vital to police tactics. The present state of the project is outlined, and the areas of application, including a central persons index, wanted persons and property, detention file, offender/offense file, fingerprints, and literature documentation, are described. Also reported are the development of PIOS, a system for documentation and analysis, and further advancement of INPOL in favor of a centrally organized system. Objectives of the proposed new system include user access to all INPOL files from any terminal, identical user results, standardized INPOL terminals, ease of operation, and agency access to other information systems.