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The Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul (CDU), has called on the police in an internal letter to take action against the criminal behavior of his colleagues. This stems from an email Reul sent to NRW police on Wednesday afternoon and which SPIEGEL has received. It is related to the right-wing chat group scandal. Currently 30 police officers are suspected of having sent and received photographs of swastikas and Hitler, among others, for years.
“I do not want to encourage complaints,” Reul wrote in his email, “and it is not a question of verifying every statement made during an operation and in the heat of the moment for political correctness.” He believes that North Rhine-Westphalia police employees “have a good feeling” about “what is possible and where the borders are crossed”. “I would like to ask you to take a closer look and, when in doubt, talk to your colleagues,” the interior minister said. When it comes to criminally relevant content, this must be informed. “That is your duty and my clear mission to you.”
Reul also prepared the police officers for possible hostility in the coming days. Officials could suffer the latest revelations “because citizens or acquaintances speak to you, perhaps even accuse you of extremists.”
Furthermore, the CDU politician announced that as a measure against possible new extremist right-wing tendencies, all NRW police executives would be invited to regional conferences. Service group leaders, commissariat leaders, and security service leaders will attend these seminars, a total of 3,500 officers. “I will also personally attend these meetings,” Reul said.
In an interview with SPIEGEL, Reul referred to the fatal damage to the company’s image and its consequences for the police. “It broke a lot. Unfortunately, there will be people who will use this case as an excuse to behave indecently towards police officers. It will be more difficult for officers in dangerous situations.”
