SPD on public safety

The SPD wants to take firm action against hate and crime online and set up a task force against right-wing extremism on the internet within the Bavarian police. Awareness campaigns are also to show people how to defend themselves against online offenses.

The SPD wants to fight hate and crime on the internet. The police in Bavaria should get a special team for this. The team deals with right-wing extremism online. There should also be information on how people can defend themselves.

The task force is to receive the funding and staff it needs. The campaigns are to explain how people can defend themselves against offenses involving data protection, cybercrime, and hate and incitement online. The platform stresses that the internet is not a lawless space.

The SPD wants to increase Bavarian police staffing by ten percent within five years and make the job more family-friendly. At the same time, all officers would have to wear identification so that police do not act anonymously. The stated goal is to renew public trust in the police.

The SPD wants more police officers in Bavaria. In five years there should be ten percent more. Police work should fit better with family life. All officers should wear an ID marking. This should help people trust the police more.

Part-time models would be promoted and rules on overtime introduced. Support services for officers who experience violence on duty would be expanded. The SPD says it will not tolerate enemies of democracy such as antisemites, right-wing extremists, Reichsbürger or religious fundamentalists in security agencies and the civil service. It plans regular training on democracy and anti-discrimination, supervision sessions, and an independent contact point for citizens and police staff.

The SPD wants to rewrite the Bavarian Police Powers Act and the Bavarian domestic intelligence law and set up an independent “freedom commission.” The Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) would face stronger oversight and focus on right-wing extremist structures. The party invokes the idea of a democracy able to defend itself.

The SPD wants to rewrite two Bavarian security laws. They should respect citizens' rights better. An independent commission should advise the state parliament on new laws. The domestic intelligence agency should mainly watch right-wing extremists. Right-wing extremists should no longer have weapons.

Bavaria's security laws would be reviewed for their effects on freedom and security; the freedom commission would advise parliament on future legislation. Right-wing extremists holding legal weapons would be disarmed and gun owners checked more closely. A “Securing Democracy” unit would be created at the State Chancellery to link civil society, research and security agencies. A state program for civic education and democratic engagement would be added.

The SPD wants to add positions at courts and public prosecutors' offices to shorten proceedings. Prosecutors would set up specialized units for serious crimes and gender-based violence. Prisons would be run humanely, with better support for inmates and appropriate pay for work done in custody.

The SPD wants more staff for courts and prosecutors. Cases should then move faster. Special teams should deal with serious crimes and violence against women. Prisoners should get better support. They should be paid fairly for their work in prison.

Specialized responsibilities at prosecutors' offices are meant to tackle serious crimes and gender-based violence more effectively. At the federal level, the SPD seeks to decriminalize poverty-related offenses such as fare evasion or taking discarded food from store dumpsters, as well as addiction-related offenses. Alongside this, those enforcing sentences in Bavaria would be sensitized to handling such behavior appropriately. Psychological and social support in prisons would be improved.

The SPD wants to give fire departments, rescue services and disaster response more funding and better equipment. Volunteers would receive a firefighter pension or a rescuer pension. The platform points to more extreme weather caused by global heating.

The SPD wants better equipment for fire and rescue services. Volunteer helpers should get their own pension. In an emergency, help should arrive within 12 minutes. Bavaria should get supply depots and a control center for disasters. The SPD says global heating brings more severe weather.

Municipalities would get more money to renovate and build fire stations, along with better wildfire equipment and an independent IT development unit. Plans would be drawn up with municipalities and counties so that rescue services meet the legal 12-minute response time everywhere. The funding commitment for water and mountain rescue would be written back into the rescue services law. For disaster response, the SPD plans investment in equipment, depots across Bavaria and a situation center. Volunteers in rescue and disaster services would get time off work for training, as firefighters do.