crime
Suspected assault – police officers suspended
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul is shocked by the allegations and the chats that have emerged. Photo: David Young / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Several officers from the Cologne police force are suspected of having acted much too heavily during an operation. A man died in a clinic several weeks later. The public prosecutor is examining the allegations.
After the death of a 59-year-old, several officers of the Cologne police are investigated on suspicion of bodily harm in the office. They are suspected of having acted excessively violent against the man during an accident escape mission in April 2021 and of having injured him, the public prosecutor said.
According to the Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul (CDU), five officials were provisionally removed from service as of Monday. The state parliament announced that the Interior Committee will hold a special meeting this Thursday at Reul’s request.
The mission because of an accident escape is said to have run in the Cologne district of Bickendorf. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the 59-year-old man was then taken to a hospital, which he left on the same day after outpatient treatment.
In June 2021, however, he died after a two-week inpatient stay in a clinic. Relatives are said to have pointed out the incident in April. Then the body was autopsied, said a spokesman for the prosecutor.
It is now being checked whether the death of the Italian national is related to what happened during the police operation. The Bonn police were entrusted with the investigation.
“The later deceased was not accused in the proceedings for unauthorized removal from the scene of the accident, but a relative,” said the spokesman. Apparently he interfered in the police operation. “What then actually happened is the subject of the ongoing investigation.” It has not yet been clarified, for example, whether the 59-year-old had resisted.
After the evaluation of cell phones, according to the information, there were further suspicions beyond the specific case against police officers. Among other things, it is about a possible appointment to use force, said the spokesman for the prosecutor. Officials are said to have agreed to work together, for example, “in order to counter possible acts of resistance by potential accusers with excessive violence”.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said, of course, the presumption of innocence applies to the five police officers. At the same time, he was shocked by the allegations and the chats that appeared. Regarding the cell phone evaluation, he said: “The results alone make me doubt the inner demeanor and suitability of the officers deployed at the time.” The content is absolutely unacceptable. “Such an understanding of service, such an attitude in the police – you can take my word for it – I will not tolerate.”
It is possible that the officers deliberately provoked acts of resistance during operations in order to be able to use violence themselves, said Reul. One of the accused even went so far that he bragged about the consequences. Another said he had “smacked one over”. According to current knowledge, the content is “neither right-wing extremist nor racist”. It could also be a matter of pure bragging rights, said Reul. Everything will now be done to clear up the case.
Four of the five police officers are still probationers. Should they be convicted, it is very likely that they will be released.