Uniform
Union complains: Too few pants for Bavaria’s police
A coat of arms of the Bavarian Police on a uniform. photo
© Timm Schamberger/dpa
“So how long have you been waiting?” a police officer asks his colleague – and both get out of the patrol car without pants. Bavarian police officers use a YouTube video to complain about a major shortage.
The German Police Union (DPolG) complains about a blatant lack of uniforms at the Bavarian police Police. “Bavaria’s police are “pulling the rug” and could literally be left without pants,” said the chairman of the Bavarian DPolG regional association, Jürgen Köhnlein. The union has uploaded a video to YouTube. “So how long have you been waiting,” a police officer asks his colleague before they both get out of the patrol car without pants.
“Since 2020, we have hardly spoken of deficiencies in the quality of uniforms, but rather of a lack of availability of uniforms,” criticized Köhnlein. “It is currently not possible to predict whether the clothing situation will improve or worsen in the near future.”
Currently, 21 uniform items such as trousers, jackets and hats can only be delivered with waiting times of several months. Replacement clothing, the initial equipment for new employees or when changing from the criminal police to the police are not available promptly and in a timely manner.
The union called on the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior to “finally” provide a quick remedy – “even if this would involve additional costs”.
What impression should be created, especially among those starting out in the profession, “if you can’t fully dress them and they complete their training in ‘robber civilian’?” asked Köhnlein.
Disrupted supply chains
The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior justifies the problem with disrupted supply chains due to the war in Ukraine. However, the difficulties have existed since the outbreak of the corona pandemic.
“The delivery bottlenecks for uniform parts are a major nuisance for us,” said a ministry spokesman on Wednesday. The Bavarian police obtain their uniforms from the Lower Saxony logistics center and the responsible headquarters of the Bavarian riot police are “in close contact” with them.
Most recently, “the backlogs in deliveries of individual clothing items have been largely reduced.” The Bavarian riot police are “assigned to work together with the Lower Saxony logistics center to find a solution to the delivery problems as quickly as possible.”
In the medium term, the Bavarian police want to take over the procurement of uniforms themselves again, the ministry announced. A corresponding logistics center in Hof should be completed by around 2030. The Bavarian police could begin procuring their uniforms themselves in 2027 at the earliest.
Speaker: Operational capability remains fully operational
“The Bavarian police are still fully operational,” emphasized the spokesman. All uniformed police officers would receive “an extensive range of initial equipment, including various service trousers and jackets for different weather conditions”.
According to the information, the delivery bottlenecks particularly affect special types of trousers such as multi-purpose trousers for the summer. Other types of trousers are available and in the event of a shortage, police officers can “of course resort to other models of trousers”. According to its own information, the DPolG Bavaria is the largest police union in the Free State with over 23,000 members.
Youtube video