Applying laws and preventing danger.
The catalogue answer summarises several functions in one short phrase. Police work includes preventing danger and investigating possible offences. Section 163 of the Code of Criminal Procedure describes the investigative function and its connection to prosecutors.
The applicable laws determine which measures are permitted. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Police Act provides for preventing danger and requires proportionate action. This is a state statute, not a claim that every individual rule is identical across all German states.
The other three answers
The wrong answers confuse functions or omit legal limits.
to defend the country
Military defence is the central purpose of the armed forces under Article 87a. This question instead concerns the ordinary police function of enforcing laws and protecting safety.
to wiretap citizens
There is no general task of wiretapping citizens at will. Communication is protected. Certain surveillance measures may be legally permitted, but only under the applicable specific conditions.
to pass laws
Passing laws belongs to the legislative function. Police apply existing rules within their powers; they are not a parliament.
Police are also bound by the legal order.
The correct answer is not blanket permission for every check. Interferences with rights require a legal basis and must respect legal limits. Surveillance, searches and other interventions each have their own conditions.
Saying wiretapping is always prohibited would also be too broad. Section 100a allows telecommunications surveillance under specified conditions involving serious offences. The test rejects a general, unlimited surveillance function.
Section 163 · Code of Criminal Procedure ↗Police: apply laws, rather than pass them.
Link the function with public safety and legal limits. This avoids portraying police powers as either unlimited or inherently ineffective.
Three words for this question
- die Gefahrenabwehrprevention of danger
- Action to prevent threats to public safety or order.
- ermittelninvestigate
- To establish the circumstances of a possible offence.
- verhältnismäßigproportionate
- An intervention must be proportionate to its lawful purpose.