AfD on public safety

The AfD calls for occasional, incident-based checks and random stop-and-search operations at Saarland's borders with neighboring countries. The state would also set up its own border police. The platform justifies this with public safety and cites the import of illegal drugs as an example.

The AfD wants checks at Saarland's borders. Police should be able to check people there without a specific suspicion. Saarland should get its own border police. One reason is drug smuggling.

Saarland shares 167 kilometers of border with two countries. The powers of the new border police would be agreed with the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The state police would in future also support the federal police at the border and in random stop-and-search operations. In the AfD's view, the coronavirus crisis showed that border checks are feasible.

The AfD wants to hire more police officers in Saarland and improve their pay and health coverage. It points to rising violence against officers and to the state's duty of care as their employer. Police work should also receive more public recognition.

The AfD wants more police officers in Saarland. Officers should be paid better. The state should cover their medical costs if they choose this. The AfD says there is more violence against the police.

Officers would be able to choose free medical care, under which the employer covers health costs directly. Salaries would be adjusted on a regular basis, and hardship allowances would count toward pensions. The platform notes that attacks on law enforcement officers rose by 8.6 percent nationwide in 2019.

The AfD wants to give professional firefighters better pay and health coverage and allow faster promotions. Volunteer service in the Freiwillige Feuerwehr (volunteer fire department) should become more attractive, including through pension credits. The platform calls fire departments an important part of public services.

The AfD wants to pay firefighters better. They should be promoted faster. Volunteers in the fire department should get a higher pension for it. Students should learn about the volunteer fire department in class.

For career firefighters, the AfD demands optional free medical care, regularly adjusted salaries and hardship allowances that count toward pensions. Trained paramedics would receive an allowance of 150 euros that also counts toward pensions. More positions would speed up promotion from pay grade A7 to A8 and A9. The volunteer fire department would be included in the curricula for grades 4 to 8. Private employers would be reimbursed not only for wage costs but also for lost revenue when staff are absent on volunteer duty.

The AfD wants to create a uniform job profile for municipal public order services and statewide standard training lasting at least two years. Equipment and allowances would be standardized and brought closer to those of the police. The platform describes the situation of these services as precarious and calls for more funding for municipalities.

Public order services work for cities and towns. The AfD wants their training to be the same everywhere. Training should last at least two years. Equipment should also be the same everywhere. Towns should get more money for this.

According to the platform, training currently lasts ten weeks at most even though the tasks are broad and complex. In the AfD's view, staff earn little, are poorly protected and equipped, and in some cases lack sufficient powers. Pay during training would be modeled on the police and the justice system. A uniform equipment system would be developed, and hardship allowances would match those of the police.

The AfD wants the state's domestic intelligence agency (Verfassungsschutz) to focus more on "Antifa" and wants all state funding for left-wing extremist groups stopped. The agency should be moved out of the interior ministry and become an independent authority.

The AfD wants to do more against left-wing extremism. The state intelligence agency should watch "Antifa" more closely. This agency watches for threats to democracy. It should no longer be part of the interior ministry. Left-wing extremist groups should get no state money.

The platform criticizes that Saarland has prevention and exit programs for right-wing and religious extremism but none for left-wing extremism. The AfD calls for closer monitoring of "Antifa" by the intelligence agency. State money that goes directly or indirectly to groups it considers left-wing extremist should be cut immediately and completely. The agency should operate as a separate authority outside the interior ministry, which the AfD justifies with the duty of neutrality. It should act against every kind of extremism.

The AfD wants to expand the police crime statistics. They should show knives as a weapon, the nationality of offenders, dual citizenship, and attacks on police officers, because the party believes the statistics otherwise give an incomplete picture.

The police keep statistics on crime. The AfD wants to expand them. They should show the nationality of offenders. They should also count crimes with knives. Attacks on police officers should be listed too.

The platform criticizes that suspects holding a German passport are always counted as Germans, even if they have other citizenships. The AfD calls for dual citizenship to be recorded separately and for offenders' nationality to be stated clearly. Knives should be added to the statistics as a weapon category right away. Violence against police officers should also be listed, from physical attacks to spitting and insults.

The AfD wants businesses that release employees for disaster relief operations and training to be compensated for the full amount of their lost revenue. This is meant to reduce disadvantages volunteers face in hiring and at work.

Many people volunteer for fire and disaster services. Their employers must let them go for missions. The employers lose money because of this. The AfD wants the state to cover this loss fully. Volunteers should then have no problems at work.

According to the platform, lost work and revenue make it harder for volunteers to get hired or cause trouble at work, which lowers the willingness to volunteer. The AfD therefore wants to change the compensation rules in Saarland's fire and disaster protection law. Businesses should have their lost revenue replaced in full. In addition, it should be examined whether municipal administrations and public institutions can be required to hire a certain number of staff who can be released for such duties.