Since not every request in police investigations, e.g. owner arrests, residence checks and requests for information, can be transmitted via the responsible ministries, an alternative arrangement was made within Germany's federal structure.

This range of tasks was delegated to the federal states. In coordination between the judiciary and the police, responsibility for part of the international legal assistance was transferred to certain authorities. For the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, central responsibility for the international exchange of police information was assigned to the LKA NRW. This institution is the central office for international cooperation for the NRW police and guarantees the legality of this exchange of information.

At federal level, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has central responsibility for contact with foreign countries, meaning that the involvement of the BKA in international cooperation is generally mandatory.

The North Rhine-Westphalia Criminal Police Office (LKA NRW) examines both the requests sent by the police authorities from North Rhine-Westphalia to other countries via the BKA and the requests sent from abroad to the police authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia. The review criteria are the legality, content and business channels of the requests, taking into account the national legal bases and bilateral or multilateral agreements for all relevant nations. There are around 190 countries worldwide that are affiliated to the Interpol institution.

For cooperation with the nations bordering NRW, Belgium and the Netherlands, the LKA NRW is represented by staff in the tri-national EPICC (Euregional Police Information and Cooperation Centre) in Heerlen (Netherlands) in order to guarantee and optimize the possibilities of cooperation with the special responsibilities of the LKA NRW.

This is where direct cross-border cooperation takes place, which generally leads to quick and effective results and is appreciated by all institutions involved.