It was in the summer of 2020, shortly after the so-called night of the riot, when a 14-year-old was checked by the police on his way to the youth center in Stuttgart. Once there, he told the social workers in a state of frustration that he had to pull his pants down – and that the friends who had accompanied him had not been checked in this way. He got the impression that he was treated differently because his skin is dark.
For Baden-Württemberg’s ombudsman, Beate Böhlen, the descriptions were so credible that she asked the police for clarification. The green-led state government created the office of ombudsman a few years ago to resolve conflicts between citizens and authorities. The ombudsman is based at the state parliament and has the right to ask all state authorities for information and access to files. Police complaints and discrimination cases are only part of their job. The approximately 600 inquiries a year also deal with conflicts with schools, social welfare or public order offices. Often a conversation is enough to clear anger out of the world.
In the case of the 14-year-old, however, Böhlen was unsuccessful. Because the state police headquarters described the process differently: They carried out drug controls that day, three officers had checked the group. No police officer had pulled down anyone’s pants, only the waistband had been scanned. And all young people were treated equally. For the boy and his mother, this statement was more than disappointing, says Böhlen. “You were shocked.” They would then have hoped for nothing more from the offer of the police to talk to.
In Berlin, the boy and his family could have had the case examined by a court. A year ago, Berlin was the first federal state to pass an anti-discrimination law. Since then, citizens can sue the authorities there for damages if they feel discriminated against by their actions. Be it at the ticket inspection in the subway, by the police at a demonstration or simply when visiting the authorities for a new identity card. Those affected can also have their concerns represented in court by a recognized anti-discrimination association.
A year ago, Strobl had been ranting about the law
Now there should also be such a law in Baden-Württemberg. The Greens and the CDU have agreed on this in the coalition agreement. Böhlen, who is a member of the Greens, considers the judicial process to be a useful addition. “We welcome that very much,” she says. However, it will take some time before the Interior Ministry presents a bill. Because the project confronts the Interior Minister and CDU state chairman Thomas Strobl with a communicative problem: A year ago he ranted about the law and threatened not to send any more police officers to Berlin (which is no longer a matter of fact).
The police unions in Baden-Württemberg still fear that police officers could become incapacitated because they had to constantly expect complaints. Strobl has now taken refuge in the assurance that they will not adopt the Berlin law, but want to submit a different, somehow better work.
That should cost his employees brainpower. Because Baden-Württemberg also wants to orient itself towards the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), which the Bundestag passed in 2006. It applies nationwide, but only regulates civil law, such as discrimination in the workplace or when looking for accommodation, but not public law action. The AGG also contains the passage to facilitate evidence, which was presented in Stuttgart as the brazen impertinence of the red-red-green ruled Berlin: If the person concerned can make his allegations so credible that a violation is likely from the court’s point of view, the authority must prove that there was no discrimination.
In Berlin, the balance sheet for the first year shows that there was no flood of lawsuits. 315 complaints have been received by the ombudsman, which is initially looking for solutions beyond legal action. 50 complaints were directed against the police, including allegations of racism. Other complaints were directed against tax offices, courts, the transport companies or the citizens’ offices. Doris Liebscher, head of the ombudsman’s office, explained that only a few take legal action: “People don’t want to complain, people want their experience recognized and an apology.”