Freie Wähler on public safety

The Free Voters see Islamism as the biggest extremism problem and want Islamist associations banned and permanently monitored. The state is also to act firmly against right-wing and left-wing extremism, and the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) is to get considerably more staff.

The Free Voters want stronger action against extremism. Islamist associations should be banned. Authorities should watch Islamist preachers all the time. The domestic intelligence agency should get more staff. No one should use it for political purposes.

As an example of associations to be banned, the platform names Salafist groups. Prevention and deradicalization work is to be expanded, accompanied by an open, fact-based debate. The domestic intelligence agency is to detect radicalization online and offline early and counter it, for instance with exit programs. At the same time, the platform demands that intelligence services and police not be used for political ends and that freedom of the press and of expression not come under pressure from abusive prosecution.

The Free Voters want more money for counterterrorism units and closer cooperation among European intelligence services. Security agencies are to have broad access to data to monitor dangerous individuals; data protection is to take a back seat for these groups.

The Free Voters want more money for anti-terror units. Intelligence services in Europe should work together better. Authorities should be able to use a lot of data on dangerous people. Data protection then counts less for these people. An independent office should check this.

Security would take priority over data protection only for clearly defined groups of dangerous individuals or criminals. The platform also stresses that law-abiding citizens do not want to live in a surveillance state. The planned citizens' advocate office is therefore to oversee these measures and the agencies' data use confidentially. In addition, the criminal offense of forming a terrorist organization is to be applied more consistently.

The Free Voters want to expand overt video surveillance and allow municipalities to set up zones with full camera coverage. According to the platform, this strengthens the sense of security, deters offenders, and makes evidence in court easier.

The Free Voters want more video cameras in public places. Cities should be allowed to set up whole video zones. Signs should clearly show these zones. There must be other routes without cameras. Police may also film at demonstrations.

The power is to be written into the states' police laws and regularly reviewed for effectiveness and proportionality. Video zones are connected streets mainly for pedestrians, for example around train stations, in pedestrian areas, and in designated residential areas; alternative routes without cameras are a condition. Authorities may film at assemblies, and affected people are to get access to the footage through the citizens' advocate office. Anyone taking part in riots is to be detained at once, until up to two hours after the assembly ends.

The Free Voters want to ban full-face veils and face coverings in public life. They argue that a visible face is needed for communication and identification and that veiling stands for separation and the oppression of women.

The Free Voters want a ban on full-face veils. Covering the face to hide should also be banned. People should show their face in daily life. The party says this helps people recognize each other. It sees the veil as a sign of the oppression of women.

According to the platform, visible facial expressions matter for conversation and for recognizing a person. The party considers the reference to freedom of religion a pretext. It regards veiling as a sign that one group sets itself apart from others, even when this is voluntary. In its view this contradicts the free and democratic culture.

The Free Voters want children under 14 to be open to prosecution for serious offenses. This is meant to stop criminal careers early and prevent clans and criminal families from using children to commit crimes.

Today children under 14 cannot be punished. The Free Voters want to change that. It should apply only to serious offenses. An expert and a judge check each case. Small thefts should also stay punishable.

The lower age would not apply across the board but case by case, decided by a court after an assessment by an appointed expert. Juvenile detention law is to be supplemented with measures suited to this age group so that courts can order educational measures. Minor offenses such as shoplifting and fare evasion are also to remain crimes because, in the party's view, they are often an entry into criminality. Offenses against police officers and rescue workers are to be prosecuted consistently and punished using the full sentencing range.

The Free Voters want to expand courts and prosecutors' offices, digitize the justice system, and speed up criminal proceedings. A greater police presence and more funds for investigators are meant to restore trust in the rule of law.

The Free Voters want more staff for courts and prosecutors. The justice system should work digitally. Criminal cases should move faster. There should be more police on the streets. Citizens should trust the state more again.

According to the platform, prosecutors' offices in particular are so overloaded that prosecution often does not succeed within a reasonable time. For digitization, uniform nationwide rules on infrastructure and IT applications are to apply. Proceedings are to be streamlined without giving up rule-of-law principles. Investigative authorities are to receive additional funds for technically modern crime prevention and prosecution.

The Free Voters want to give European security agencies such as Europol and Eurojust far broader powers. They call for tougher penalties and targeted checks against human trafficking. The platform argues that open borders have made the security situation more complicated.

The Free Voters want to fight criminal gangs across Europe. European agencies like Europol should be allowed to do more. People who traffic humans should get harsher punishment. Victims should get help.

The EU bodies OLAF, CEPOL, Europol and Eurojust are to receive extensive powers of their own. Internationally, cooperation among law enforcement through Interpol is to be stepped up. On human trafficking, the platform demands stricter penalties, targeted checks and closer coordination between the Federal Police, customs and tax authorities. Victims in Germany are to be offered exit and support programs.

The Free Voters want to replace the current cannabis rules based on home growing and growers' clubs. Instead, cannabis would be sold legally in licensed specialty shops. In the platform's view, the current approach has not pushed back the black market enough.

Today people can grow cannabis at home or get it in clubs. The Free Voters want to change that. Cannabis should only be sold in special shops. These shops need a license. This is meant to shrink illegal dealing.

The party says it was open to legalization provided sales take place in specially licensed stores where identity and expertise are checked. It argues the federal government failed to clear EU-law obstacles first and instead relied on home growing and so-called social clubs. The platform calls this a serious mistake. A legally regulated retail sale in specialty shops is to replace today's rules.

The Free Voters stand behind police and emergency responders and reject blanket accusations against the police. At the same time, independent police commissioners are to be set up in every state. Service in the Federal Police is to become more attractive, and the states' police IT systems are to be standardized.

The Free Voters support police and rescue workers. Mistakes inside the police should be investigated fairly. Every state should get an independent police commissioner. Working for the Federal Police should become more attractive. Police everywhere should use the same computer systems.

The commissioners would be elected by each state parliament and report only to it on the internal condition of the police. Misconduct in the police is to be pursued under disciplinary and criminal law in fair proceedings; plans against extremist attitudes are to be drawn up together with the police. For the Federal Police, a key-points paper by the Federal Police union on staff development is to be taken into account and the separation of agencies in career tracks lifted, opening up the criminal investigation service. The states' search and case-management systems are to be unified for faster data exchange.

The Free Voters reject a constitutional amendment that would allow more deployments of the Bundeswehr inside Germany. The tasks of police and military are to remain separate because only the police are trained for internal security. The platform considers the existing exceptions sufficient.

The army may only rarely be used inside Germany. The Free Voters want to keep it that way. The police are responsible for safety inside the country. There are exceptions, for example in disasters. The party says that is enough.

The platform points to historical reasons for the constitutional separation of police and armed forces. It names disasters and the so-called internal state of emergency as sufficient exceptions. The police should, however, be allowed to use military equipment such as vehicles when that is more efficient.

The Free Voters consider German gun law strict enough and want to partly reverse the most recent tightening. In the platform's view, it hits law-abiding hunters, sport shooters and citizens without protecting against criminals. Instead, illegal gun possession and violent crimes are to be punished in a more targeted way.

Gun rules were recently made stricter. The Free Voters want to take back part of that. They say the rules hit hunters and sport shooters for no reason. The state should rather punish illegal guns and violence. Guns should not have to be stored centrally in clubhouses.

The party relies on the personal responsibility of legal gun owners and does not want them placed under general suspicion. As an example of an everyday burden, the platform cites carrying a pocketknife in a handbag. It says the new rules also complicate administrative procedures, such as renewing hunting licenses or gun permits. The party rejects central storage of weapons in shooting clubs or clubhouses.

The Free Voters want to strengthen civil protection and renew its buildings and equipment. Civilian shelters are to be set up again in a targeted way, with the federal government providing a plan and funding. The platform cites years of neglect and growing threats.

The Free Voters want to protect people better in disasters. There should be new equipment and stores of important goods. There should be regular drills again. The state should also build shelters again. Shelters are safe rooms for emergencies.

The plan includes regular disaster drills from the European level down to municipalities. Decentralized storage and supply structures for essential goods are to be built up everywhere. Municipalities are to get financial help for necessary infrastructure, for example through funding programs. Civil protection could also offer roles within a year of community service for everyone (Gesellschaftsjahr). The platform calls the dismantling of many shelters after the end of the Eastern Bloc hasty.

The Free Voters want to change the rules of cannabis legalization. They consider the amount allowed for personal use too high and the distances from schools too small. Limits for driving are to be based on scientific findings.

Cannabis is partly legal in Germany. The Free Voters want stricter rules. People should be allowed to carry less cannabis. The distance from schools should be larger. The police should be better able to act against dealers.

In the platform's view, the current rules leave police barely able to act against dealers. It cites the large amount that may be carried for personal use and protective distances from schools that are too small. Both are to be changed. Limits for driving motor vehicles and operating machinery are to be set strictly on scientific grounds rather than political preferences.

The Free Voters want rape to be punished almost as severely as murder. The statute of limitations is to rise to 30 years because, according to the platform, many victims can only speak about the crime decades later.

The Free Voters want tougher punishment for rape. The punishment should be almost as high as for murder. The time limit for prosecution should also be longer. After this time limit, nobody can be punished anymore. The limit should be 30 years.

The platform ranks rape as the most serious crime after murder and derives from this a nearly equal sentence. The period for criminal prosecution is to be 30 years in the future, matching the period for civil claims. As justification, it says some victims can only talk about it very late or only learn of the crime afterward, as a case in France showed.