They obviously felt very safe in their chat groups – after all, they were closed to invited members only. The groups were called “React Clan” or “Secret Hitler Crew”, which is already an indication of the type of content that was posted here. A third group name suggests how the members saw themselves: “model police officers.” Eight young officers from the North Rhine-Westphalian district police authorities of Borken, Kleve and Recklinghausen exchanged ideas here.
And what they sent back and forth: The Cologne City Gazette reported, the investigation documents mention swastikas, images of Hitler and the glorification of the Holocaust. From a photo that shows one of the officers leaning against the patrol car. He is said to have written: “What do I do for a living?” The answer was: “Clap the cannons.”
Only what was said publicly is considered sedition
Police officers in right-wing extremist chat groups – such headlines appear very regularly. Because of the current case, the North Rhine-Westphalia state government would now like to ensure that such incidents no longer remain without consequences. This has often been the case so far. In September 2020, for example, two WhatsApp groups were discovered by chance in which officers from the Essen police headquarters posted right-wing radical content. In total 42 police officers were targeted in the complex. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) announced zero tolerance at the time.
Three years later, the results are mixed: 19 civil servants are still suspended from duty, but only temporarily until their disciplinary proceedings are completed. Only 23 procedures have been completed, 20 of them without consequences. Only four officials were prosecuted for the right-wing extremist content, for using unconstitutional symbols or for incitement to hatred. But only because they explicitly asked for the content to be shared. They received fines of between 3,000 and 4,000 euros.
In many cases, the police have no means of getting rid of officers who have become abusive to right-wing extremists. According to the legal opinion of many courts, it is simply not illegal to incite hatred against Muslims in a closed chat group, for example. Just this spring, the Frankfurt regional court did not allow charges against five Hessian police officers because the offense of incitement to hatred required that a corresponding statement had been made publicly. This was not the case in their private group. And even if someone is convicted: Civil service law previously required a sentence of at least one year in prison for the loss of civil service status. This is a fairly high hurdle for sedition and similar crimes.
Extremist posts in private groups should also be considered a criminal offense in office
In terms of service law, it is no less complicated. The employer must prove an official’s lack of loyalty to the constitution before an administrative court in order to be able to dismiss him. This often takes years and the demands are great; Otherwise flawless service can also play a role. The hurdles are also higher if an offense took place outside of work – for example in private chats. Disciplinary proceedings therefore often end without dismissal. Affected officials may only be transferred or demoted.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul has now launched an initiative in the Federal Council. Specifically, he is calling for a new paragraph to be written into the criminal code: This means that extremist posts in private groups will also be considered a criminal offense in office in the future. “If officials go wrong, we have to be able to take action,” said Reul this week.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had already announced this spring that she was tightening civil service law: in the future, an order from the employer should be sufficient and a lawsuit will no longer be necessary. In addition, in the case of incitement to hatred, in the future it will be enough for an official to be sentenced to six months in prison, rather than one year, to be dismissed.
In the case of the eight police officers from Borken, Kleve and Recklinghausen, whose chats were recently exposed, it should be easier anyway. They are civil servants on probation and can already be fired much more easily than civil servants for life.