Along with Police Battalions 303 and 314, Police Battalion 45 was assigned to Police Regiment South. The regiment was placed under the command of Hermann Franz, a career policeman who had previously served in the Order Police in the occupied Poland.[4] When the regiment crossed the German-Soviet border, it came under the control of Friedrich Jeckeln, the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSS-PF) for Army Group South in Ukraine.[4]