I suppose it is the same as a "Gemeindevorstand would be in german.
The only difference is that while our communities are also responsible for low level law enforcement, they are doing this under supervision of the state ministry of interior.
So either the whole state goes insane or there's a balance to low level insanity...
On the other hand, it seems to me that the differentiation between "Straftat" and "Ordnungswidrigkeit" is the most rational thing ever to come out of german law.
For non germans, minor offenses are not considered criminal in germany.
You can get fined for dumping trash or whatever minor offense, but it does not go on criminal record, you can't get arrested because of it and these laws are enforced by unarmed civil servants rather than police.
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