SPD on public safety

Against extremism, the SPD relies first on prevention while also wanting security agencies to be able to step in earlier. Far-right and Islamist networks are to be cut off from funding and structures.

The SPD wants to fight extremism. It wants to prevent it early. Agencies should be able to act faster. Extremists should have no money and no weapons. Enemies of the constitution should not work for the state.

The funding sources of far-right networks are to be exposed and dried up; the SPD will review whether agencies' powers are sufficient. Access to weapons would be controlled more tightly, extremists disarmed faster and people with a history of mental illness excluded. Prevention, civil society initiatives and better-equipped agencies are meant to counter Islamism. Enemies of the constitution would be removed from public service under the reformed disciplinary law. The SPD wants to fight and expose disinformation campaigns from abroad more strongly.

The SPD wants to keep adding staff at the security agencies, modernize equipment and create a new Federal Police Act. Attacks on police, emergency services and helpers would be punished more severely.

The SPD wants to hire more police officers. The police should get modern equipment. A new law should set out their powers clearly. People who attack police or rescue workers should face tougher punishment.

The hiring is also meant to offset upcoming retirements; the retirement age for federal police officers stays at 62. Officers would be protected through better technology, training and larger deployments in dangerous situations. The SPD will examine giving municipalities more legal leeway in dealing with fireworks. Together with the states, it wants to align police and assembly laws and strengthen the riot police units.

The SPD wants to give the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police legal tools for automated, AI-based data analysis. This is mainly meant to speed up the fight against organized crime, whose definition is to be updated.

The police should be allowed to analyze large amounts of data with computers. Artificial intelligence helps with this. The SPD wants to find criminal gangs faster this way. Crimes against the environment should also be pursued more.

In organized crime, economic offenses and network-like structures are to get more attention. The SPD wants the European Public Prosecutor's Office to also handle environmental crime, and Europol to devote more resources to it. An independent federal academy for prevention and criminal sciences is also planned, to collect effective concepts, set standards and bring knowledge into practice.

Besides the security agencies, the SPD wants to strengthen prosecutors' offices and courts so that the justice system does not slow cases down. A new pact with the states is meant to bring more staff and better equipment.

The SPD wants to strengthen courts and prosecutors. They should get more staff and better technology. The federal government and the states should do this together. Cases should move faster.

The program refers to the whole rule-of-law chain, which includes prosecutors' offices and criminal courts alongside the police. The Code of Criminal Procedure is to be reformed with a view to more effective proceedings. Digitization of the justice system would continue with systems that are compatible nationwide.

The SPD wants to make any sexual act without clear consent a crime and to criminalize serious sexual harassment such as catcalling. The aim is to strengthen the legal position of victims of sexual violence and to mark clear limits.

The SPD wants stricter criminal law on sexual violence. Sex without a clear yes should be a crime. Serious sexual harassment should also be a crime. One example is catcalling. That means degrading remarks or gestures toward women.

The platform calls femicide an extreme form of violence and wants to act against it through both prevention and punishment. Prosecution is to improve, with the states setting up specialized prosecutors' offices. The Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty against violence toward women, is to be implemented in full. Partner violence should also be taken into account in custody and visitation cases. At the EU level, gender-based violence is to become a uniform criminal offense. The SPD also wants to fight human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The SPD wants to make the BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) the central cybersecurity authority and give security agencies more powers against cybercrime. Platforms would have to remove illegal content, and youth protection is to be strengthened through age checks.

The SPD wants more safety on the internet. The federal office BSI should become the central body for this. Police and agencies should be able to do more against online crime. Platforms should have to delete illegal content. Children and teenagers should be better protected.

The BSI's new role is meant to improve cooperation between the federal and state levels and defense against attacks on people and businesses; the platform mentions IP addresses and port numbers in this context. The SPD also backs the "login trap": when someone logs in to a suspicious account, the IP address is recorded so the justice system can identify the person. Data protection and fundamental rights are to be respected. Companies should do more for IT security and against online hate. Rules against hate crime are to be enforced, including effective age verification.

The SPD wants to strengthen disaster relief and civil defense to be prepared for climate impacts, hybrid attacks and military conflicts. Critical infrastructure is to be better protected by a KRITIS umbrella law.

The SPD wants to prepare Germany better for disasters. These include floods, heat and attacks on important facilities. A new law should protect power, water and other vital supplies. There should be more sirens and better warning apps. Helpers such as fire departments and the THW should get more support.

The federal government, states, municipalities, local utilities and infrastructure operators are to work together more closely, and the laws on emergency supply are to be updated. The KRITIS umbrella law would set uniform nationwide rules for the physical protection of vital facilities. Security agencies are to get more powers for cyber defense. The THW (federal technical relief agency) is to get staff and equipment, and fire departments extra federal equipment, for example for floods and CBRN operations. Volunteers in rescue services will continue to be supported. More sirens, better warning apps and more frequent disaster drills at all levels are also planned.

The SPD wants to revise the criminal offense of Volksverhetzung (incitement to hatred), paying special attention to far-right statements by public officials and in schools. Online hate crime is to be prosecuted more effectively.

The SPD wants to act more strictly against hate speech. The law against incitement to hatred should be changed. Incitement means stirring up hatred against whole groups of people. The Federal Criminal Police Office should pursue online hate better. Victims' addresses should stay protected.

In the platform's view there are gaps in protection against dehumanizing hate speech that should be closed. The central unit at the Federal Criminal Police Office for illegal online content is to be expanded. Victims of hate crimes are to be better protected in criminal proceedings: their home address should no longer become known through access to case files. The contact point for local politicians at the German Forum for Crime Prevention is to be strengthened.