AfD on public safety

The AfD wants to enlarge Saxony's police force to at least 15,000 staff and equip it better. Police are to be more visible around the clock, especially in rural areas and near the border, so that they arrive faster in emergencies.

The AfD wants more police officers in Saxony. There should be at least 15,000. Police should be seen more often on the streets. This matters most in villages and near the border. That way help should arrive faster.

The platform calls for a security policy guided by the threat situation rather than the budget. The emergency number is to be reachable without waiting on hold. An independent police commissioner attached to the state parliament would replace the current complaints office and serve both citizens and officers. Career paths are to become predictable, training for criminal investigators is to start earlier, and IT specialists ("cybercops") would face lower health requirements. Citing more frequent knife attacks, the AfD wants equipment and training adapted; it also wants to push digitalization of police work and strengthen prevention. Video surveillance is to be used with restraint, and the police laws are to be reviewed for practicality.

The AfD wants to strengthen the units fighting organized crime with staff and technology and to consistently confiscate criminal profits. Foreign offenders are to be expelled more easily by making membership in such groups a separate ground for expulsion.

The AfD wants to do more against criminal gangs. Police should get better technology for this. The state should take away money made from crime. Foreigners who belong to such gangs should have to leave the country.

The platform argues that gangs and organized crime often cause great damage unnoticed. Cooperation with other agencies is to improve, and the existing legal tool of asset confiscation is to be used more often. The AfD states that most offenders in this field are foreigners. Where the facts support it, belonging to such a group would be enough for expulsion.

The AfD calls for checks on people and goods at Saxony's border crossings again and for complete surveillance of the border away from the crossings. It cites uncontrolled immigration, people smuggling, and cross-border crime as reasons.

The AfD wants checks at Saxony's borders again. This covers people and goods. The border in forests and fields should be watched too. The AfD says this will keep out smugglers and criminals.

In the platform's view, the end of fixed checks under the Schengen Agreement does not meet the population's need for security. A "Joint Border Task Force" is to be formed with the Federal Police. The AfD also expects progress against drug trafficking, arguing that such offenses are mainly uncovered through checks.

The AfD wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to twelve. Adult criminal law would apply without exception to 18- to 21-year-olds; the option of applying juvenile law to them would be dropped.

Today courts can punish children only from age 14. The AfD wants this from age 12. Anyone who is 18 should always be punished as an adult. Today milder rules sometimes apply to young people up to 21.

The platform points out that even twelve-year-olds commit serious offenses and that adults sometimes use their children for crimes. In the AfD's view, anyone who comes of age at 18 must be fully responsible in every area; the assumption of delayed maturity has not been borne out. Prosecutors are also to use fast-track proceedings more often, and these are to become possible in juvenile criminal law so that the verdict quickly follows the offense. The AfD rejects any reform of the provisions on murder and manslaughter.

The AfD wants a general ban on religious face and full-body veils in public spaces. At public events and marches, the existing ban on covering one's face is to be enforced.

The AfD wants to ban face veils worn for religious reasons. This should apply everywhere in public. At protests, too, nobody should cover their face. The AfD says: here, people show their faces.

The platform argues that peaceful demonstrators have no need to cover their faces, whereas extremists want to escape prosecution through anonymity. On the veil ban, it says showing one's face is customary in local society. In the AfD's view, anyone who wants to live in Saxony must adapt to local customs.

The AfD wants to abolish the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) in its current form and rebuild it under a completely revised law. The new agency is to operate independently of the government; at the same time the party announces a zero-tolerance policy toward extremists and hate preachers.

The Verfassungsschutz is a secret service inside Germany. The AfD wants to abolish it in its current form. A new service should replace it. It should not depend on the government. The AfD wants to be tough on extremists.

The AfD accuses the current agency of being misused to fight the opposition and rejects this. The new service is to work efficiently and act against every kind of extremism and terrorism. Associations would receive public funding only if they sign a declaration of commitment to democracy with an anti-extremism clause.

The AfD wants to strengthen emergency medical services, fire departments, and disaster response, especially in rural areas. Volunteers are to receive more recognition, including a tiered supplementary pension and subsidized truck driver's licenses.

The AfD wants stronger fire and rescue services. They should get modern equipment. Volunteers should later get a small extra pension. The state should also help pay for truck licenses for firefighters.

Fire brigades are to get up-to-date equipment, and their daytime readiness is to be secured in rural areas as well. Firefighters are to be financially protected, and employers are to receive an incentive because they go without staff for hours during call-outs. The state would subsidize the cost of class C1 and CE licenses, tied to a five-year service commitment. Fire and disaster protection are to feature in school lessons through open projects.