CDU on public safety

The CDU wants to grow the state police to well over 8,100 staff and make officers more visible in local precincts. The Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) is also to be strengthened because, according to the platform, extremist activity is on the rise.

The CDU wants more police officers in the state. More than 8,100 people should work for the police. People should see the police more often where they live. The domestic intelligence agency should also get stronger. This agency watches extremists.

The platform sets a goal of more than 7,000 sworn officers plus at least 1,100 employees in police administration. It justifies this with growing duties and more deployments. Protection against burglaries in homes and businesses is to be a top priority. Security agencies are to keep watch on and fight every form of political and Islamist extremism. The CDU also wants to broaden the powers of the police.

The CDU wants to create a system that identifies people who pose a danger early on and triggers countermeasures. To do this, information from different agencies would be pooled and assessed centrally.

Some people are a danger to others. The CDU wants to spot such people earlier. Agencies should share what they know. One central office should assess the dangers.

The planned system would also draw on what other institutions know. It would be paired with centralized threat analysis and data management across agencies. The stated goal is to bring important information together and assess it better. The CDU says people should not just feel safe but actually be safe.

The CDU wants to give every police officer in the state a Taser to protect them better in dangerous situations. It also plans to invest in drone defense, artificial intelligence and police IT.

The CDU wants to give all police officers a Taser. A Taser is a device that stops attackers with an electric shock. The police should also get tools against drones. Their computer systems should get better.

Tasers are to be introduced statewide as an additional tool so officers can act safely and proportionately in threatening situations. Bodycams are to be used consistently. The CDU plans further spending on technology that detects and fends off drones. Saxony-Anhalt is to keep taking part in the shared police data platform of the federal and state governments and upgrade its own IT for it. A central, secure media platform for the state police is also planned.

The CDU wants to expand video surveillance in public places and allow AI-based analysis statewide that automatically detects suspicious behavior. It also wants bodycams to be used inside homes and to permit new forms of DNA analysis.

The CDU wants more cameras in public places. Computer programs should spot unusual behavior by themselves. Police officers should be allowed to use body cameras inside homes too. The police should be allowed to learn more about suspects from DNA.

The platform justifies bodycams in homes by their calming effect during domestic violence calls. AI analysis of camera footage is meant to help find more wanted persons. The CDU wants a legal basis for so-called biogeographic analysis; combined with extended DNA analysis, it is meant to give more precise findings on hair, skin and eye color and on age. This is supposed to keep investigations from heading in the wrong direction. The law on public assemblies is to anchor more firmly the means to make assemblies safer.

The CDU wants to create a dedicated treatment service for mentally ill people who are considered prone to violence. It is modeled on prevention outpatient clinics in Bavaria and is meant to lower the risk of violent acts.

Some mentally ill people become violent. The CDU wants special treatment centers for them. There they get help before something happens. Bavaria already has such centers.

According to the platform, police and emergency services increasingly encounter mentally ill people with a strong tendency toward violence. The new service is to be aimed specifically at this group. It follows the Bavarian model of prevention outpatient clinics.

The CDU wants to test in selected municipalities whether municipal enforcement staff should carry police-grade pepper spray for self-protection. Municipalities are also to act more firmly against littering and dirt in public spaces.

Staff of local public order offices sometimes face danger. The CDU wants to give them pepper spray in some towns. This is a test at first. Towns should also do more against trash and dirt in the streets.

The platform justifies the trial by saying the work of municipal enforcement staff involves risks. Pepper spray is meant to help them protect themselves in threatening situations. In the CDU's view, safety starts locally in towns and cities. It also counts tougher action against dirt in public spaces as part of that.

The CDU wants to preserve the volunteer fire departments and keep supporting municipalities with vehicles, fire stations and water supply points. The training institute in Heyrothsberge is to be expanded with more than 70 million euros, and civil protection is to be broadened.

The CDU wants to strengthen fire departments. The state will keep helping towns buy fire trucks. The fire training school in Heyrothsberge gets more than 70 million euros. For emergencies, some sites should keep water, power and fuel ready. The state will also keep paying for sirens.

Small municipalities under budget pressure are to be able to get money for smaller investments through a support fund; funding for truck driver's licenses for firefighters will continue. At the Institute for Fire and Disaster Protection, plans include more courses, digital training, a new fire simulation facility, a central warehouse and modernized lodging. Citing extreme weather and the geopolitical situation, selected sites are to be able to supply the public with water, power and fuel in a crisis. So-called disaster protection beacons, meaning emergency contact points, are to be expanded. The responsible division in the interior ministry is to get more staff, and aid organizations are described as indispensable partners.

The CDU wants to expand victim protection and secure lasting funding for counseling centers and women's shelters. Protecting women and children from violence in their own surroundings is the party's top priority here. Witnesses are also to be better protected.

The CDU wants to protect victims of violence better. Counseling centers and women's shelters should get reliable money. Women and children should get special protection. Witnesses should get more protection too.

Outpatient counseling centers and women's shelters are to receive reliable funding. Central facilities are meant to spare children and young people who have experienced violence stressful trips and repeated examinations. The CDU wants to review and further expand the networking of support services against domestic violence. Witnesses are to be shielded from danger to themselves and their families and from pressure by offenders.