Two officers from the Schweinfurt police station were convicted on Thursday in the Schweinfurt district court for xenophobic attacks in the Geldersheim anchor center. The background is, among other things, incidents in autumn 2019. A resident of the anchor center is said to have been threatened with the words “I will kill you”.
In addition, the two police officers are said to have searched several rooms in the facility with a kind of master key together with a 27-year-old police officer without a search warrant. A small amount of cannabis found was then said to have been given to an informant as a reward. The two police officers are also said to have caused one resident to buy drugs from another resident as a decoy.
Police officers exchange xenophobic messages
In the course of the investigation, police officers came across further incriminating details about the two defendants. Among other things, they discovered a private cell phone video that “potentially suggests a xenophobic sentiment” on the part of the condemned, said the police headquarters.
The video shows how the officers drive through a puddle with the company car in winter temperatures and spray a group of immigrants wet. In addition, evaluations of the cell phone revealed that two other officers had exchanged messages with xenophobic content with the accused. They too were suspended from duty for the time being.
Policeman gets one year and two months probation
As the police headquarters in Lower Franconia announced, one of the three defendants received a sentence of one year and two months – on probation. The court considered it proven that a police officer was guilty of trespassing and of violating the area of personal life and personal rights by taking pictures. Another officer was fined, among other things, for trespassing and breach of official secrecy. The police headquarters did not disclose the amount of the fine.
Police speak of xenophobia
The case against a policewoman was discontinued after a monetary condition was paid. According to its own statements, the Lower Franconian police headquarters had taken disciplinary measures against the apparently xenophobic police officers when the investigation began in 2020.
The police headquarters then informed the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office responsible for internal investigations, among other things. In addition, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the officials: both convicts were suspended shortly after the investigation began. The third party was transferred to a different department, the police headquarters said in a message.
Police headquarters do not want to condone racism
The Lower Franconia Police Headquarters emphasized in its press release that it stands for “zero tolerance” for any form of racism, democracy or xenophobia in its own ranks. Such an attitude is in no way compatible with the role model function and duties of the police in society.
Police in Lower Franconia: xenophobia “not a structural problem”
This also applies to the private sector of civil servants. Therefore, suspicion of xenophobia was also “consistently (…) investigations initiated”. The main hearing before the Schweinfurt District Court had clearly shown that the Lower Franconian police did not have a structural problem in connection with xenophobia, but instead contributed “their own self-critical point of view” to the discovery and clarification of the facts. According to the police headquarters in Lower Franconia, the acts of the colleagues were determined by officers from the Schweinfurt police station and then reported.