AfD on public safety

The AfD wants to keep the target of 6,200 state police officers, expand training in Güstrow and relieve officers of administrative work. Tasers would be introduced across the force. Volunteer security helpers and more body and vehicle cameras would be examined.

The state police should have 6,200 officers. The AfD wants more experts against crime on the internet. Officers should do less office work. All should get tasers. The AfD will look into more cameras and volunteer helpers.

The police college in Güstrow would get more infrastructure and better conditions for lecturers and trainers, and young Germans would be targeted for recruitment. The State Criminal Police Office would receive additional cybercrime experts. Administrative tasks would be shifted away from officers through digitalization, better processes and non-police staff. Volunteer security helpers modeled on other states are to be examined, as are more body cameras, vehicle cameras and the legal changes they require. Tasers would be introduced everywhere. The shooting range plan would be updated and implemented quickly so that enough training is possible.

The AfD wants to counter blanket accusations of racism against the police publicly and through legal means. Documentation requirements in the state's Security and Public Order Act (SOG) would be repealed immediately. Associations that, in the AfD's view, accuse the police of racism without evidence would lose public funding.

The AfD wants to protect the police from accusations. It wants to remove some record-keeping duties from the police law. Some groups would get no more money from the state. Police leaders should have field experience themselves.

Leadership posts would go, as far as possible, only to officers with operational experience; lateral hires without police experience would remain the exception. Promotions should depend on character and performance, not political views or party ties. Disciplinary proceedings would be sped up with more staff and better processes. Regular anonymous staff surveys are planned. Officers would get help defending themselves against accusations the AfD regards as unjustified. Research projects that the program describes as snooping into people's convictions would not be supported.

The AfD wants crime statistics to include more information on offenses by foreigners and by Germans with multiple citizenships. A situation report by the State Criminal Police Office on crime in the context of immigration would be added. Regular surveys would also capture unreported crime.

The AfD wants to show more numbers on crimes by foreigners. A suspect's second passport should also be named. There should be a special report on immigration and crime. Citizens should say in surveys which crimes they have experienced.

Data on crime by foreigners would be broken down to the level of counties and independent cities. Police press releases would also mention dual citizenship of suspects and victims; the program points to an announcement by North Rhine-Westphalia. The planned report would show offender-victim relationships, countries of origin and residence-law measures taken against suspects. In statewide surveys of unreported crime, citizens would describe offenses they experienced and behavior driven by fear, such as avoiding public places.

The AfD wants to introduce a state-funded pension supplement for long-serving volunteer firefighters and give volunteers in other aid organizations largely the same status as the fire service. Attacks on emergency personnel would be prosecuted more severely. The siren network would be rebuilt and cooperation with the Bundeswehr deepened.

Volunteer firefighters should get an extra pension from the state. Helpers from other groups should have similar rights. People who attack helpers should be punished strictly. The AfD wants to set up more sirens again.

Equal status for helpers covers time off work, compensation and social protection. Expense allowances would be adjusted to wages and prices every five years. The state would subsidize driver's licenses needed for operations, invest in training and keep renovating and building fire stations. The central procurement office for vehicles and equipment would be expanded and offered to municipalities on a voluntary basis. In the Bundesrat, the AfD wants stronger criminal-law protection for emergency personnel, and existing sentencing ranges should be used in full. Joint exercises and short decision paths would link the Bundeswehr, the THW (federal technical relief agency), fire services and aid organizations more closely.

The AfD seeks a fundamental reform of the state's Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) and does not rule out a complete reorganization. The agency would concentrate on cybercrime, counterespionage and political militancy. The party accuses the agency of failing to prevent threats and of politically one-sided priorities.

The Verfassungsschutz is a secret service inside Germany. The AfD wants to rebuild it. It should deal with spies, internet crime and political violence. The AfD says the agency goes after critics of the government today.

As evidence of failure, the program cites the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market, attacks by the so-called Vulkangruppe and the NSU case. It criticizes a lack of prevention and poor coordination with the police. In the AfD's view, the agency discredits positions that are critical of the government yet democratically legitimate. The reform is meant to result in a security structure that protects against extremists and keeps citizens safer.

The AfD wants to prevent citizens from being declared unreliable under gun law because of statements critical of the government. The existing requirements for legal gun ownership would remain. The program sees the tightening of gun law as distrust of law-abiding citizens.

People who own a gun legally need a permit. The AfD says some lose it because of their opinions. The AfD wants to stop that. The other rules for a permit would stay the same.

Reliability, personal suitability and proven expertise would remain the conditions for legal gun ownership. The AfD criticizes that gun law has only been tightened for decades. It opposes authorities confiscating weapons over unwelcome expressions of opinion and wants to change enforcement accordingly.

The AfD wants prosecutors and courts to apply criminal law consistently and without any appearance of political bias. The special criminal protection for politicians against insults would be dropped, proceedings would be faster and victims better protected.

The AfD wants courts to punish crimes consistently. Politics should play no role in this. There should be no special rule for insults against politicians. Simple criminal cases should move faster. Victims should get more protection.

The AfD rejects publicly funded reporting portals that, in its view, overload prosecutors with complaints. Through the conference of state justice ministers, it wants to link prosecutors across states so that other pending cases against repeat offenders are known. For suspects from EU countries, the European criminal records system is to be used to learn of prior convictions at home. Repeated questioning of victims is to be avoided by making earlier statements easier to use in court. In simple cases, prosecutors should use accelerated proceedings more often, and simplified proceedings for juveniles.

The AfD wants to prosecute child sexual abuse and the spread of abuse material with every means the rule of law allows. It rejects blanket data retention without cause and relies instead on the quick-freeze procedure and AI-assisted analysis of data.

The AfD wants to prosecute child abuse firmly. But it does not want to store everyone's data without a reason. Police should only secure data when there is a suspicion. A judge must approve this. Computer programs should help investigators with their work.

In the AfD's view, blanket retention interferes with the basic rights of law-abiding citizens and does not strengthen the rule of law. Under quick freeze, connection data is secured only when there is a specific suspicion and a judge orders it; the party wants to strengthen this tool. Artificial intelligence is to analyze seized data to relieve investigators and uncover offender networks faster. Officers who work with the distressing material are to receive psychological support.

The AfD wants to use the Bundesrat to make children criminally responsible from age 12 instead of 14. It justifies this with a rise in violent acts by children and with the protection of other children and young people.

Today a court can only punish children from age 14. The AfD wants to lower this age to 12. It says children commit more and more violent acts. Other children should be better protected.

The platform stresses that the aim is not to put children in prison. As an example, it cites a 2022 murder case in which a 13-year-old main perpetrator could not be held responsible while the 14-year-old accomplice received a juvenile sentence. It says youth welfare measures are hard to enforce against parents' wishes, whereas juvenile criminal law, with its focus on education, offers more options. The child's maturity would be examined in every case, and juvenile detention would be imposed only if milder measures are not enough.

The AfD wants to use legislation to better protect doctors, medical staff and care workers from violence. According to the program, more than half of the physicians in the state have experienced violence from patients. The party sees this as a threat to patient care as well.

Doctors and care workers are sometimes threatened or attacked. The AfD wants to protect them better. There should be a law for this. The AfD says violence also puts patient care at risk.

The program describes threats, insults, attacks and also sexualized violence against health care workers as a widespread problem. It says more than one in two physicians in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has been affected. The AfD announces legislation to improve protection for doctors, medical staff and care workers.