SPD on public safety

The SPD wants to raise the target number of police positions from 8,500 to 9,000 and deploy more visible police on the streets and in rural areas. It justifies this with growing demands and the public's sense of safety.

The SPD wants more police officers. There should be 9,000 positions instead of 8,500. More patrols should be out on streets and squares. Rural areas should get more local police officers.

First, the current 8,500 positions are to be filled; training places will be adjusted and the police academy in Oranienburg strengthened. The plans include an additional training center, more local beat officers especially in rural areas, more patrols and one more riot police unit of about a hundred officers. Extra money is to go to digitalization, technology and modernizing police buildings. More promotion posts are meant to make the job more attractive, and pay is to be monitored in comparison with other states.

The SPD wants to add staff to the criminal police and build up capabilities for online investigations. It points to mobile offender groups operating across regions and to new forms of crime; cooperation with the Polish police is also to grow.

The SPD wants more staff for the criminal police. Police should be better at investigating online too. German and Polish police should work together more closely. Police and local offices should meet to talk about safety.

Joint German-Polish police teams are to be developed further; the SPD wants to preserve freedom of movement in the EU while pursuing cross-border crime more vigorously. Local security conferences made up of police, prosecutors, public order offices and youth welfare offices are to identify and fix security gaps. Police prevention work is to be strengthened. Efforts against extremism, discrimination, antisemitism and homophobia will continue, including meetings between officers and vulnerable groups; misconduct within the police is not to be tolerated.

The SPD wants only people loyal to the constitution to become civil servants and intends to remove those who do not offer that assurance from state service. Extremist organizations are to be monitored more closely, and the domestic intelligence agency will keep receiving support.

Civil servants must stand by democracy and the constitution. Those who do not should not work for the state. The SPD wants to dismiss such civil servants. The Verfassungsschutz should watch extremist groups more closely. The Verfassungsschutz is an agency meant to protect democracy.

The platform calls civil servants' loyalty to the constitution non-negotiable. The SPD announces a zero-tolerance strategy toward enemies of the constitution. It notes that the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) has been given more staff and that the law governing it was changed to better monitor the financial flows of anti-constitutional organizations. The platform describes the agency as part of a democracy able to defend itself.

The SPD wants to create a dedicated state office for fire and disaster protection to support fire departments and aid organizations statewide. It also plans a second site for the state firefighting school in Wünsdorf and further funding for equipment.

The SPD wants a new state office for fire and disaster protection. The office should support fire departments and aid groups. A second site of the firefighting school is planned in Wünsdorf. The state will give 40 million euros for buildings, vehicles and equipment.

Funding for fire stations, vehicles and equipment will continue, with 40 million euros planned for the next legislative term. Recruitment for the fire service is to go on, and rescuer and service-anniversary bonuses will be kept. In the future, lifeguards are also to be eligible for the rescuer bonus. A pilot project with refugees is also planned to attract new members. The platform justifies this with the largely volunteer nature of the work and the role fire departments play in life in small communities.

The SPD wants to make fighting forest fires a priority because, in the program's view, such fires can push emergency crews to their limits. It plans a wildfire competence center, more equipment and more prevention.

The SPD wants to fight forest fires better. It wants to set up a special center for forest fires. Fire crews should get more special vehicles. Old ammunition should be cleared from the forests.

The competence center is to be created within a new state office for fire and disaster protection. Clearing old munitions from forests is to be pushed ahead and supported financially; after a fire, contaminated areas should be cleared as quickly as possible. The state is to keep buying special vehicles and equipment. For prevention, the program names converting forests to climate-adapted woodland and forestry measures that protect crews and settlements at risk. The SPD also wants to support the sites of the Bundeswehr and the Technisches Hilfswerk (federal civil protection agency) in the state.