Editing Inner German border (section)

===West Germany===
[[File:Inner german border herrnburg.jpg|right|thumb|300px|alt=View of a road terminating in a red and white horizontal barrier, with trees on either side. Four people, two in uniform, are standing on the near side of the barrier. On the far side is another uniformed man standing in a grassy field. In the far background is a high metal fence and a tall watchtower with an octagonal cabin at its top.|West German ''Bundesgrenzschutz'' personnel, civilians and an East German border guard on opposite sides of the border line at Herrnburg near Lübeck]]
A number of West German state organisations were responsible for policing the western side of the border. These included the ''Bundesgrenzschutz'' (BGS, Federal Border Protection), the ''Bayerische Grenzpolizei'' (Bavarian Border Police) and the ''Bundeszollverwaltung'' (Federal Customs Administration).<ref name="Rottman-20"/> [[German Army|West German Army]] units were not allowed to approach the border without being accompanied by BGS personnel.<ref name="Faringdon, p. 284"/>

The BGS, established in 1951, was responsible for policing a zone {{convert|30|km|mi}} deep along the border.<ref>[[#Moncourt|Moncourt; Smith (2009)]], p. 22.</ref> Its 20,000 personnel were equipped with armoured cars, anti-tank guns, helicopters, trucks and jeeps. The BGS had limited police powers within its zone of operations to tackle threats to the peace of the border.<ref name="Shears-96-97">[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 96–97.</ref>

The ''Bundeszollverwaltung'' (BZV) was responsible for policing much of the inner German border and manning the West German crossings. Its personnel lived with their families in communities along the border and carried out regular policing tasks in a zone about {{convert|10|km|mi}} deep along the border. They had the power to arrest and search suspects in their area of operations with the exception of the section of border in Bavaria.<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 90–92.</ref> The BZV's remit overlapped significantly with that of the BGS, which led to a degree of feuding between the two agencies.<ref name="Shears-96-97" />

The ''Bayerische Grenzpolizei'' (BGP) was a border police force raised by the [[Bavaria]]n government to carry out policing duties along the inner German border's {{convert|390|km|mi}} in Bavaria. By the late 1960s, the BGP had 600&nbsp;men patrolling its sector of the border, alongside the BZV, BGS and US Army. Its duties were very similar to those of the BZV, leading to turf wars between the two agencies.<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 94–95.</ref>