North Rhine-Westphalia – trade unionists to far-right policemen: “We are dismayed” – News

The case of far-right police talks is causing horror in the North Rhine-Westphalia police union.

Another right-wing extremist police case in Germany is making headlines. 29 officials were released in North Rhine-Westphalia. He is said to have spread right-wing extremist propaganda in various chat groups. Police unionist Michael Maatz emphasizes that cases of right-wing extremism in the police affect a small minority of officials.

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Michael Maatz is the state vice president of the North Rhine-Westphalia police union.

SRF News: How did you react on Wednesday when you heard about the latest case of right-wing extremism among police officers?

Michael Maatz: We are shocked and, to some extent, stunned.

How big is the image damage for the police in North Rhine-Westphalia?

It’s huge. It will take us a long time to regain confidence.

In Germany it has been stressed time and again in the past that these are individual cases. But now the frequency of right-wing extremism among police officers appears to be a bigger problem. Are we seeing only the tip of the iceberg?

In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, around 50,000 people work for the police. Along with the last case, the group of policemen affected by the denunciations of right-wing extremists affects around 50 of them, that is, 0.1 percent of the entire police force. Most colleagues do their jobs well and distance themselves from right-wing extremism. This clearly has nothing to do with the police.

The people of North Rhine-Westphalia trust the police

Despite cases of right-wing extremism in some of their bodies, the North Rhine-Westphalia police enjoy a high reputation among the population. In a recent poll on the reputation of professional groups, the police ranked first with 86 percent approval. “This shows that our people are doing a good job here,” says Michael Maatz. “I have great confidence in my teammates.”

In the latest case in North Rhine-Westphalia, 29 officials are said to be involved, it involves various chat groups, some of which have existed since 2012. How can something like this not be noticed?

You have to take a closer look at these chat groups. At the moment we do not know if far-right ideas have been exchanged there since 2012. It may well be that the chat has been launched for a normal personal exchange and that other things have only been disseminated there from a certain point in time. The investigations are still in their infancy.

The current case is just the latest in a series of similar cases of right-wing extremism in the German police force. Do the German police have a problem?

Most cops have nothing to do with it. There are some cases that are now known. These must be fully clarified and have corresponding consequences. But now we cannot portray the entire police force in Germany as right-wing extremists.

What should be done to prevent similar cases from happening again?

There are different possibilities. It begins with the correct selection of personnel. Even if we already have a very good screening process, we have to analyze it and make sure that the right young people make it to the police. Young companions should also be more aware of this during their training. Also, we have to stick our fingers in this wound over and over again during regular police training. So-called extremism officials appointed by the Interior Ministry are also on duty in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Interview conducted by Salvador Atasoy.