At the North Rhine-Westphalian police, a total of 100 employees have been suspected of racism or right-wing extremism since 2017. In addition, there are four cases in the Ministry of the Interior, said NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in one Report that he presented to the state parliament this Thursday.
In all cases the reason for disciplinary proceedings was behavior with right-wing extremist or racist characteristics, reports the WDR, citing the report. In eight cases there is a reference to the scene of the so-called Reichsbürger.
71 of the proceedings have not yet been concluded. Eight disciplinary and labor law measures were imposed in the 29 completed proceedings. In the other cases, the allegations were either not confirmed or they were time-barred. The figures include the proceedings for right-wing chats in Mülheim an der Ruhr that were initiated a few days ago.
Five chat groups were uncovered in the police in North Rhine-Westphalia in September in which police officers had shared racist images and right-wing extremist agitation. Most of the police officers involved had worked at least temporarily in the same duty group in the police station in Mülheim an der Ruhr that belongs to the Essen police headquarters.
To date, 30 officers have been suspended and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against all of them. “This case has another dimension,” said Reul about the Essen case, “in terms of the extent to which the right-wing extremist sentiment is visible.”
—North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister Herbert Reul (here at the meeting of the interior committee in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament) was shocked by the right-wing extremist activities of police officers in his state.
(Photo: dpa)
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After the Essen chat group was exposed, the interior minister sent an email to all 50,000 employees of the NRW police. He urgently called for criminally relevant content to be reported from colleagues. Obviously with success. “It is becoming apparent that we have not yet reached the end of the flagpole,” he said now. There are always new reports.
As before, he relentlessly promised to explain: “Anyone who does not believe in the constitution has no place with us in the police.” In addition, one must clarify why the previous measures had not worked.
Police union: investigate everyday police life
Reul told the editorial network Germany (RND) that it was conceivable that right-wing extremist ideas could develop in the service. “If someone on duty is always confronted with the same criminal groups and the problems of this world without anything changing, then that can lead to disappointment and radicalization.” In individual cases, the rotation of officials could therefore be a solution.
The CDU politician, like Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), spoke out against a study on racism in the police. Such a study “certainly doesn’t help me,” said Reul. “Above all, we need a culture of looking, preferably from the bottom up. It must be clear to the police: I don’t just have a job, but an assignment.” The SPD and the Greens had called for such a study.
The police union (GdP) came forward with its own proposal on the racism debate. She advocates an “investigation into everyday police life” to document pollution. She also wants to find out why “prejudices against certain social groups” sometimes solidify among individual officials, and what can be done about it. “Admitting deficits shows size. Overcoming them shows strength. Our police have both,” said GdP Vice Jörg Radek after a meeting of the federal executive committee in Berlin.
Everyday racism is a problem for society as a whole, the GdP stated. These thought patterns should therefore be examined in all areas, “including the police”.
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