security authorities
What are the police and the Bundeswehr doing against extremism in their own ranks?
© Andreas Gora/ / Picture Alliance
Authorities want to take more action against extremism in the police and armed forces. However, getting rid of conspicuous people is often difficult.
Soldiers and police officers repeatedly turn against the democracy they are supposed to protect. Sometimes it’s about Hitler salutes in barracks, sometimes it’s about proximity to right-wing terrorist groups. A research by star and RTL revealed, that at least 400 disciplinary proceedings or investigations are being carried out in the police forces of the federal states due to suspected extremist attitudes. The response to the report was great. Where the problem was often ignored in the past, some politicians are now pushing for toughness, at least publicly. Politics lessons in training and studies are now the rule, no longer the exception. The Bundeswehr’s military counterintelligence service relies on anti-racism campaigns, working groups and democracy sponsors. Some states and the Bundestag now have police commissioners.
With AfD influence, the willingness to use violence increases
However, it is often difficult for authorities to get rid of police officers who have become conspicuous. The procedures take up to five years. Since the beginning of April, a law has been intended to make disciplinary proceedings easier, at least at the federal level. After the research by star and RTL were published, politicians called for the law to be tightened up in the federal states as well.
Is that enough? The political scientist Hajo Funke says: “As long as the public is awake and the security organs systematically investigate suspected cases in the Bundeswehr and the police, democracy is not at risk.” That could change if it becomes clear that government can no longer be governed without the AfD. As the party’s influence increases, says Funke, the willingness of supporters to resort to violence increases. Even if they are police officers or soldiers.