Grüne on public safety

The Greens want to equip the police better while correcting problems that have developed within the force. A new mission statement is to describe police work in a pluralistic society. The justice system is to keep adding staff, and proceedings are to move faster.

The Greens want to give the police better equipment. Problems inside the police should be fixed. The police should get a new mission statement. That is a text that says how they want to work. The courts should get more staff and work faster.

The platform links a free and open society to a reliable police force and a capable justice system. For the police, it lists better equipment, correcting internal problems and a new mission statement side by side. In the justice system, hiring is to continue, and organizational measures are to speed up proceedings.

The Greens reject blanket video or audio surveillance of public spaces. Preventive approaches with little coercion, such as crime prevention through urban design, are to take priority over surveillance. The platform argues that ever more laws do not automatically bring more security.

The Greens do not want cameras everywhere in streets and squares. They also do not want microphones everywhere. Other ways to stop crime are better. One example is well-planned, safe public places. Police should use smart cameras only in targeted cases.

The rejection explicitly covers intelligent video surveillance as well. It is to be used only to identify specific offenders or crimes, must respect the rights of bystanders and may not replace the police's own assessment of a situation. In the party's view, the powers of police and domestic intelligence end where civil liberties are restricted too much. The party also plans an effectiveness check for measures in the security field.

The Greens want measures that interfere with civil rights to be tied to strict legal conditions. In the platform's view, the EU's plans for so-called chat control do not meet these standards. Online crime should still be prosecuted consistently.

Some state measures limit people's rights. The Greens want strict rules for this. For strong measures, a judge should agree first. The Greens reject the EU plan to scan private chats. Police should still go after crime on the internet.

According to the platform, the legal bar should rise with the severity of the intrusion, for example by requiring a judge's prior approval. The chat control plans at the European level do not meet this test, the platform says. To fight online crime, the Greens want to work with experts and use up-to-date technology without disproportionately restricting rights. They also want active protection for whistleblowers and informants.

The Greens want to combat right-wing extremism and other forms of extremism and enable security agencies to detect networks faster. At the same time, prevention programs, youth and social work, and civic education are to be expanded. The platform sees right-wing extremism as the greatest threat to democracy.

The Greens want to fight extremism. They see the biggest danger on the far right. Police and agencies should spot such groups faster. There should be more programs to prevent extremism. Civic education should grow too.

The platform cites the domestic intelligence report, which identifies right-wing extremism as the main threat. Security agencies should be able to uncover far-right networks, up to terrorist threats, more quickly and act on them; the same applies to other forms of extremism. The Greens want to watch how these reinforce one another, for example through antifeminism and conspiracy myths. State prevention programs, youth outreach, and civic education are to be expanded.

The Greens want to tighten gun laws through the Bundesrat and back the federal government's plans in that direction. In Hesse, gun owners are to be checked more often. According to the platform, extremists should not have weapons.

The Greens want stricter rules for guns. They want to make proposals in the Bundesrat, the chamber of the states. People who want a gun should be checked more closely. Hesse should check gun owners more often. Extremists should not have guns.

The plan includes stricter rules for private gun ownership and more thorough background and reliability checks before a permit is issued. In Hesse, inspections of gun owners are to be expanded. Where gun ownership cards have to be revoked, this is to be actually enforced. The platform also names tighter gun laws as a lesson from the parliamentary inquiries.

The Greens want good working conditions and modern equipment for the police. New positions should go where the need is greatest, with a focus on local stations and patrols. The fight against extremism, organized crime and online crime is also to be stepped up.

The Greens want good working conditions for the police. Police should get modern technology and protective gear. Local police stations and patrols should become stronger. Police should do more against extremism and internet crime. Police and social workers should work together more closely.

Equipment should reflect the current state of technology and include the necessary protective gear. For police software, the Greens push for nationally harmonized IT and reject a separate path for Hesse. Officers are to get more opportunities for exchange, reflection and supervision, especially after difficult operations. For petty crime and public-order problems with social or psychological causes, police are to cooperate more closely with social work. Psychosocial first response at crime scenes is to be improved.

The Greens want to implement the expert commission's proposals for a fresh start in the police, including a new mission statement. A pilot project with receipts for police stops is meant to show whether racial profiling occurs. Far-right attitudes within the police are to be countered with all legal means.

Everyone should be able to trust the police. So the Greens want to change the police. In a trial, people should get a receipt after a police stop. This should show whether police stop people because of how they look. Far-right views should have no place in the police.

Marginalized groups are to be better represented in the police, and violence against women, queer people, people with disabilities, homeless people, Jews and people perceived as migrants is to be pursued firmly. Evaluations are to take place regularly and be published; studies are to examine possible unconscious bias. Training, especially for leaders, is to put more weight on civic education and on racism- and gender-sensitive practice. Crime statistics are to show offenses against children, women, queer and disabled people and racist offenses more clearly. The Greens also aim for a periodic state security report.

The Greens want to evaluate the office of the citizens' and police commissioner and develop it further with experts. It is to receive more powers and be expanded. People affected by police violence and misconduct should be able to get help there safely.

Hesse has a commissioner for citizens and the police. People can complain about the police there. The Greens want to review this office and make it stronger. It should get more powers. Victims of police violence should get safe help there.

The review is to be based on practical experience so far. Further development is to take place together with experts. Both the powers of the office and the office itself are to grow. The aim is for people who have experienced police violence or misconduct to receive advice and support.

The Greens want to draw further consequences from the inquiries into the NSU murders, the murder of Walter Lübcke and the Hanau attack. According to the platform, security agencies failed in their duty to protect in these cases. Hesse is to take part in building a central federal NSU archive.

There were inquiries into the NSU murders, the murder of Walter Lübcke and the Hanau attack. The Greens say the agencies made mistakes. The Greens want to learn from them. Hesse should help build an NSU archive.

As areas for improvement, the platform names the handling of files on right-wing extremists, care for victims in major incidents and the treatment of relatives. Tighter gun laws are also among them. In the Greens' view, full investigation builds trust in Hesse's security agencies. The state is to actively help set up the archive planned by the federal government.

The Greens want to continue restructuring the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which the platform says has often failed at its task. Academic expertise, staff qualifications and parliamentary oversight are to be strengthened. The use of informants is to remain a last resort and be reviewed.

The domestic intelligence agency should spot dangers to democracy early. The Greens say this often did not work well. So they want to keep changing the agency. Parliament should check the agency more closely. The agency should watch the internet better.

Plans include more academic expertise inside the agency and from outside, clear qualification criteria and ongoing training. Staff should reflect society's diversity and receive intercultural training. Capabilities for monitoring the digital space are to grow in order to prevent online radicalization, and the public is to be informed about the risks. Informants from within extremist scenes are to be used only when other means are not enough. The Greens want to examine how their use, especially regarding right-wing extremism, can be made safer and more traceable.

The Greens want fire departments, rescue services and disaster response to be well funded, staffed and equipped. Equipment is to be adapted to climate change effects such as heavy rain, floods and wildfires. Warning systems such as sirens and apps should reach everyone.

Fire departments and rescue services help people in need. The Greens want to give them more money and better gear. Climate change brings more floods and forest fires. Fire departments should be ready for this. Sirens and warning apps should reach all people.

Fire departments are to get help recruiting new members, for example through changing rooms that allow a higher share of women. Disaster response, fire services, environmental agencies and municipalities are to coordinate more closely, and plans for wildfires and heavy rain are to be updated continuously. Municipalities are to be supported in improving their emergency and crisis management structures. Responders are to be trained across organizations. For warning systems, the Greens pay particular attention to accessibility.

The Greens want to step up the prosecution of crimes committed online, such as child pornography and drug or weapons trafficking. The ZIT cybercrime unit at the Frankfurt public prosecutor general's office is to get more staff for this.

The Greens want to fight crime on the internet more strongly. This includes child pornography and trade in drugs or weapons. A special office in Frankfurt deals with this. It should get more staff.

According to the platform, digitalization has created new types of offenses, and serious crimes online require special technology and skills. The Central Office for Combating Internet and Computer Crime is therefore to grow in staff and be developed further professionally. Existing measures against online hate speech are to be adjusted on an ongoing basis.

The Greens do not want minor rule violations to be punished with prison sentences, which would also ease the burden on the courts. In their view, riding without a ticket and so-called dumpster diving should no longer be crimes.

The Greens no longer want to treat small violations as crimes. One example is riding without a ticket. Another is taking food that stores have thrown away. This should give the courts less work.

The platform welcomes federal-level efforts to remove fare evasion on local public transit and the taking of discarded food from criminal law. In Hesse, the Greens want to examine whether agreements with the transit associations could treat fare evasion as a contract dispute that is not reported to the police. The stated goals are to relieve the justice system and to avoid imprisonment for minor violations.

The Greens want to do more to prevent crime. They plan additional Häuser des Jugendrechts (juvenile justice centers) and a risk management system meant to stop violations of restraining orders and protect women and children from violence.

The Greens want to stop crimes before they happen. Young people should not become criminals. For this, there should be more juvenile justice centers. There, police, courts and youth services work together. Women and children should be better protected from violent offenders.

Juvenile justice centers bring several agencies together in one place; the Greens want to strengthen existing ones, deepen their social and interdisciplinary work, and set up new ones at suitable locations. According to the platform, offenders repeatedly ignore court orders such as bans from the home. A risk management system is meant to prevent this, with electronic ankle monitors named as one possible tool. Awareness of femicide is also to be raised among judges, prosecutors and police.

The Greens regard reintegrating prisoners as the main goal of the prison system and as protection against new crimes. They want to expand programs in prisons, pay inmates more for their work, and avoid jail time for unpaid fines more often.

Prisoners should live without crime after their release. For this, the Greens want more support in prison. This includes education, counseling and therapy. Prisoners should get more money for their work. People who cannot pay a fine should not go to prison for that reason.

Plans include more counseling and education, especially in juvenile detention, and limited internet access for news, education and emails to approved addresses. Muslim chaplaincy, addiction counseling and access to voluntary psychotherapy are to be expanded, as are support services for offenders and victim-offender mediation. Pay for prison labor is to rise, and open prisons are to be strengthened through preparation programs. Options for doing community service instead of serving time for an unpaid fine are to grow, with sufficient funding for the nonprofit providers involved.

The Greens want to give crime victims better support during and after proceedings. Support organizations are to receive more funding, and Hesse's victims' fund is to be made permanent and expanded.

The Greens want to help victims of crime better. Support centers should get more help. Victims should quickly get advice, therapy and money. A state fund for victims should stay and grow.

The focus is on victims of sexual offenses and of racist, antisemitic, homophobic and transphobic attacks. Public prosecutors' offices are to get contact persons for same-sex lifestyles, and dealing with victims is to become a fixed part of police training. The Greens want to push for stronger victim protection in federal law, more training for lawyers in victims' rights, and easier access to psychotherapy. The state fund for victims of serious violent crimes and terrorist attacks is to be made permanent and enlarged, and the state victim counseling office is to be supported.