Police officers in uniform, with a weapon and a radio, but only in their underwear – this was seen at the beginning of the week in a video that the German Police Union (DPolG) in Bavaria posted online and accompanied by a press release. At first you thought it was an April Fool’s joke. That’s what the union chose as the title, “The worst April Fool’s joke of all time: Bavaria’s police pull the trigger”. But immediately afterwards it was said: Unfortunately it was about “reality”, namely delivery bottlenecks for uniforms. Two police officers, a woman and a man, illustrated this clearly in the video.
“Currently, 21 uniform items, such as trousers, jackets and hats, can only be delivered with waiting times of several months,” says DPolG regional head Jürgen Köhnlein. Clothing for new recruits, replacements and equipment for internal changes were not carried out in a timely manner. “Since 2020, we have hardly spoken of deficiencies in the quality of uniforms, but rather of a lack of availability,” said Köhnlein. Even if it costs more money, they expect “finally quick relief” from the Ministry of the Interior. And no more appeasements. Köhnlein asks what impression would arise, especially among those starting out in the profession, if they had to complete their training in “Räubercivil”. The expression generally stands for sloppy wardrobe; in military terms it once meant a mix of uniform and civilian clothing.
The delivery bottlenecks are “a big nuisance for us,” the Interior Ministry said when asked by the SZ. The cause is “sustainably disrupted supply chains”, first because of the pandemic and now also because of the war in Ukraine. The uniforms come via the Lower Saxony police logistics center and they are working on “solving the delivery problems as quickly as possible”. The operational capability of the Bavarian police “continues to be fully guaranteed”; if there is a shortage of “multi-purpose summer trousers”, for example, other models of service trousers are also available.
In the medium term, the Free State wants to take over the procurement of uniforms itself again. A logistics center for the Bavarian police is being built in Hof: a service point for centralized procurement, from paper clips to helicopters. It has already been inaugurated, but it will still be years before it is fully operational. According to the ministry, its own procurement of uniforms will not start until 2027 at the earliest. “Problem identified, solution still pending,” the DPolG reported last year with a view to the center. By the way, there have been repeated complaints from the union about uniforms for years, sometimes about the quality mentioned by Köhnlein, such as scratchy fabrics. Another time is that the riot police are not allowed to order enough “long underwear” in winter. At that time, there was no illustrative video about the lack of underwear.