In the further police career there are no mandatory training courses on the topics of racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism in the federal states.
Berlin – According to research by the media service Integration , there is a lack of structural measures against racism and anti-Semitism in the police force in almost all federal states. “In the police, racism and anti-Semitism are hardly an issue,” said the head of the media service, Mehmet Ata, in Berlin. Both topics come up little or not at all in police training. Before that, a survey was evaluated among all federal and state interior authorities.
So far, independent racism studies have only been conducted in Berlin, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. An investigation is planned in Thuringia, in Hamburg it is being blocked by the police unions. Modules in police training, such as the topic of racial profiling, have so far only been available in five federal states. In Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Württemberg, the modules are only intended for senior civil service.
Police study: Mandatory training courses on racism are missing
Also in the further police career there are no mandatory training courses on the topics of racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism in the federal states. In Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and Thuringia they are voluntary and in Bavaria and Saarland only for the higher service.
There is criticism that independent police complaints offices do not exist everywhere. So far, these have only existed in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Bremen, Hesse (under construction), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein. North Rhine-Westphalia is planning a complaints office that is based in the state parliament. The media service also complains that there are no anti-discrimination officers, except in Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein and at the police headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.
SPD politicians consider the survey to be of limited significance
The SPD member of the Bundestag Sebastian Fiedler considers the survey to be of limited significance. Just because a module does not have a corresponding title does not mean that the topic is left out of police training, said the former chief inspector and long-time chairman of the Association of German Detectives: “There are important initiatives that were not queried during the research.”
Fiedler also emphasized that one should not only concentrate on official business in the security authorities, but also have an eye on what is happening around the authorities. It is about making the security authorities more resilient: “To do this, we have to see through and include the strategies of the right and conspiracy extremists.”
Political scientist: Racism cannot be fought with further training
The antiziganism researcher and political scientist Markus End from the TU Berlin doubts that racism can be combated with further training. “Right-wing extremist police officers will not be convinced by corresponding academic presentations,” said End. The core problem is institutional racism. This affects not only the police, but also immigration authorities and employment agencies. (mse/epd)
