A conversation about what it means to be a police officer

On a former factory site, the Cologne police headquarters stretches towards the sky with a glass front. The path to the interview with Jana Wölky leads past a memorial plaque in the entrance area that commemorates Walter Pauli. The police officer was shot in the line of duty in 1975. High on floor five, late summer heat presses through the windows. Jana Wölky, pink nails, alert look, police uniform, is already waiting in the press department office. Today she had an early shift, she’s been up since six o’clock, a quiet day, she says. Wölky has been on duty for 25 years; she is chief inspector and service group leader at the Rodenkirchen station. Their area of ​​application extends in the south of Cologne from Hahnwald to Meschenich, from the residential area to prefabricated buildings. Wölky is a regular reader of star Crime and sent an email to the editors after reading the essay “Purely a matter of discretion” in issue 48. The essay was about careless border crossings by police officers. Our author described a traffic stop as an example: She was asked to walk in a line, touch her nose, and had to be questioned in detail about possible drug use. The reason: slightly exceeding the speed limit. The author found the process degrading and disproportionate. For Jana Wölky, however, the text left “anger and sadness,” as she wrote in her letter to the editor. Reason for our author to talk to her not only about her essay, but generally about everyday life as a patrol officer. About life out there, on the street.