What do the parties in Saxony-Anhalt say on public safety?

The AfD wants the police to concentrate on fighting crime and spend less time on speech offenses. The Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) should no longer monitor the opposition. The party ties this to a call for more democracy and freedom in the state.

The police should deal with serious crimes. They should spend less time on crimes that are about opinions. The Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence agency. It should stop watching the opposition.

The AfD commits to a strong state and wants to rebalance police tasks: serious crimes are to be pursued more intensively, while citizens' expressions of opinion are not to be prosecuted. The party says this would make the police be seen as a friend and helper again.

The AfD wants a strong state that keeps order. The police should mainly deal with serious crimes. They should not go after citizens for their opinions. The AfD wants people to trust the police again.

The AfD wants to expand the state police to at least 7,500 officers and shorten the time it takes to reach the scene. It justifies the need with rising crime, which it attributes mainly to immigration policy.

The AfD wants more police officers in the state. There should be at least 7,500. The police should also reach the scene faster. The AfD wants to test a digital system in patrol cars for this. Officers should also have less office work.

The AfD wants internal investigations after police use of firearms to be opened only when there is concrete suspicion of misconduct. Pending disciplinary proceedings should no longer block promotions and training, and the office of the state police commissioner should be eliminated.

Today the police check every shot from a service gun internally. The AfD wants this only when a mistake is suspected. A disciplinary case should no longer hold up an officer's career. A disciplinary case checks whether an officer broke the rules of the job. The AfD also wants to abolish the police commissioner.

The AfD wants to make police service more attractive through faster promotions, allowances and state-paid disability insurance, in order to reach 7,500 police officers. Police would also be equipped with Tasers and relieved of administrative work.

The AfD wants more people to join the police. The goal is 7,500 officers. Officers should be promoted faster. The state should pay for an insurance for them. The police should also get Tasers. A Taser is a device that uses electricity to stop a person for a short time.

The AfD wants young offenders to consistently receive a so-called Warnschussarrest ("warning-shot" detention) of up to four weeks. The aim is a sharp warning without a prison sentence burdening their future.

Young people who commit a crime should be put in detention. The detention lasts up to four weeks. The AfD calls it warning-shot detention. It is meant to warn the young person. It does not show up in the criminal record certificate.

The AfD wants to push at the federal level to allow the addresses of released pedophile offenders to be published. Saxony-Anhalt would also get an alert system for missing children modeled on the US AMBER Alert.

The AfD wants to make the addresses of convicted pedophile offenders public. This would apply after release from prison. Federal law would have to change for this. The AfD also wants an alert system for missing children. Police, media and companies would then search for the child together.

The AfD wants to sharply increase pressure from police and domestic intelligence on the far-left scene in Saxony-Anhalt. At the federal level, it wants all groups that identify as "Antifa" to be classified as terrorist organizations.

The AfD sees Antifa as a big danger to public safety. Police and the intelligence service should pursue these groups much harder. The AfD wants Antifa declared a terrorist organization across Germany. It wants to push for this at the federal level.

The AfD wants to create a volunteer citizens' watch in municipalities that supports the public order office and police with auxiliary tasks. It is meant to improve safety, cleanliness and order, since the platform sees the authorities as overstretched.

The AfD wants to start a volunteer citizens' watch. Citizens would help the public order office and the police in their free time. They would get training first. They would get a little money for it. The citizens' watch is not meant to replace police officers.

The AfD wants to regulate fire protection, emergency medical services and disaster response in a single state law. Volunteers would get more recognition through a volunteer card, higher compensation and uniform rules on time off work.

The AfD wants one law for the fire service, rescue service and disaster response. Volunteers should get a volunteer card. Firefighters should get more compensation. Their employers should get a benefit too.

The AfD wants all revenue from the fire protection tax to be passed on to municipalities and earmarked for fire protection. The guaranteed minimum annual payout would be doubled to 9 million euros. The platform also calls for a special budget for fire departments covering highway sections and for subsidized licenses for emergency vehicles.

The AfD wants to give fire departments more money. Towns should get at least 9 million euros each year. That is twice as much as now. Fire departments near highways should get extra money. The state should also help pay for licenses to drive big fire trucks.

The AfD wants criminal cases to be handled more often through the fast-track procedure under Section 417 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Juvenile offenders and clear-cut cases in particular would be judged quickly, following the "Neukölln model." In the platform's view, this is the only way some offenders come to respect the law.

The AfD wants faster criminal trials. The law already allows a quick procedure. Courts should use it more often. This should apply mainly to young offenders and clear cases. The punishment should come soon after the crime.

The AfD wants courts to use the full sentencing range for violent crimes and intends to encourage judges to do so. Investigations should not be curtailed out of concern about appearing discriminatory. So-called opinion offenses, by contrast, would be punished more leniently.

The AfD wants tough sentences for violent offenders. Judges should give the highest possible sentence. Police should investigate without regard to origin or religion. Statements made online should be punished less harshly.

The AfD wants foreign prisoners to be transferred routinely to their home countries to serve their sentences there. This is meant to relieve the state's prisons, which the platform says are heavily occupied and understaffed. A dedicated team in the ministry would push the procedures forward.

The AfD wants to send prisoners from other countries back home. They should serve their sentence there. The prisons in the state are very full. This should free up space. A new team in the ministry should handle this.

The AfD wants to resolve bottlenecks in the justice system through investment and additional staff. Because a wave of retirements is expected, there would be a temporary increase in positions in the justice administration. For the prison service, it plans a hiring drive and financial incentives.

The AfD wants more staff for courts and prisons. Many employees will retire soon. So there should be more jobs for a while. Older staff can then pass on their knowledge to new staff. Work in prisons should pay better.

The AfD wants to keep the Volkstedt prison running despite the 2012 decision to close it, and to build a new prison quickly as well. It also wants to shut down the black market inside prisons through more checks and tougher sanctions. The platform justifies this with rising numbers of suspects and with safety inside the facilities.

The AfD wants to keep the prison in Volkstedt. It should not close. A new prison should be built too. The AfD wants to stop the trade in phones and drugs inside prisons. It plans more checks and tougher penalties.

The AfD wants to press at the federal level for children to be criminally liable from age 12 instead of 14. In addition, 18- to 20-year-olds should no longer be eligible for sentencing under juvenile law. The platform justifies this with rising youth violence and the feelings of victims.

Today, people can be punished from age 14. The AfD wants this from age 12. People aged 18 to 20 should always be punished like adults. Today, milder youth law sometimes applies to them. The AfD says young people commit more violent crimes.

The AfD wants to press at the federal level for a criminal provision covering public disparagement of the German state, German citizens and national symbols. It argues that minority rights are overemphasized and that the majority population can therefore be denigrated without penalty.

The AfD wants a new criminal rule. People who publicly insult Germany or the Germans should be punished. This could mean a fine or up to three years in prison. The AfD says the law now mainly protects minorities.

The AfD wants to limit the state's Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) to classic intelligence work and abolish its public reports. In the program's view, the agency is currently being used to weaken the opposition.

The AfD wants to change the Verfassungsschutz. This is the intelligence agency inside Germany. It should only deal with terror, spying and threats to the state. It should stop publishing public reports. The AfD says the agency is used against the opposition today.

The AfD wants to change assembly law so that only the first demonstration registered may take place at a given location or along a given route. Counter-protests would have to keep a minimum distance. The program also promises more tolerance toward demonstrations, while demanding that the ban on face coverings be enforced and that German be the language used at rallies.

The AfD wants new rules for protests. Only one protest should be allowed in one place. Whoever registers first gets the place. Counter-protests must keep their distance. Nobody should be allowed to cover their face. People should only use German at protests.

The AfD wants to block any further tightening of gun law. In its view, stricter rules mainly hit legal gun owners, while illegal weapons remain unaffected.

The AfD wants no stricter rules for guns. It says the rules in Germany are already very strict. Stricter rules hit hunters, sport shooters and collectors. Criminals use illegal guns. The rules change nothing for them.

The AfD wants to simplify German weapons law and focus it on live firearms. Blank-firing guns would be freely available again and the Kleiner Waffenschein (minor firearms permit) would be abolished. Reliability checks would no longer look at political views but at actual risk, such as drug addiction or mental illness.

The AfD wants simpler rules for weapons. Blank-firing guns should be free to buy again. Officials should no longer check a person's political views. But they should look more closely at drug addiction and mental illness. Sport shooters should be able to own guns more easily.

The AfD wants authorities in Saxony-Anhalt to act consistently against climate activists who commit crimes. The platform speaks of "climate extremism" and cites road blockades and slashed car tires as examples.

The AfD wants to be strict with certain climate activists. It means people who break the law for climate protection. As examples, the AfD names road blockades and slashed tires. Police and courts should act firmly here.

The BSW wants to scrap immediately the monitoring category “delegitimization of the state relevant to the protection of the constitution.” An independent commission is to examine whether a strengthened police state-security branch could fight terrorism better. The party fears that the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) is being used against inconvenient voices.

The Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence agency. It also watches people who strongly reject the state. The BSW wants to remove this group from its list. Experts should check whether the police can fight terrorism better.

Prevention work and victim counseling are to treat right-wing, left-wing and religiously motivated violent extremism alike. The state should focus on preventing violence and protecting those affected.

The state should act against every kind of violent extremism. That means right-wing, left-wing and religious. Other opinions should not be a crime. The state should mainly prevent violence.

The BSW regards security as a public service that belongs solely to the police and must not be privatized. Police and investigators are to be equipped so that they can match criminal networks. The party also wants more visible police presence and well-kept public spaces.

The police should provide security, not private firms. The BSW wants to equip the police better. They should mainly go after large criminal groups. People should see more police on the streets.

The BSW rejects Palantir software and similar systems for comprehensive automated data linking. Powers of the security agencies are to be necessary, proportionate and clearly limited. Instead, the party relies on transparent software from Germany or Europe.

Palantir is a program that links lots of data about people. The BSW does not want the police to use it. The party does not want surveillance of everyone. The police should use programs from Germany or Europe.

The BSW wants to bring the state police to around 7,000 officers by 2028 at the latest. In addition, promotion backlogs are to be cleared through regular promotions, and pay is to be appropriate to the office held. The party attributes staff shortages and the job's low appeal to political decisions.

The BSW wants more police officers in Saxony-Anhalt. By 2028 there should be about 7,000. Officers should be promoted regularly. They should also be paid properly. This should make the job more attractive.

The BSW wants to rewrite Saxony-Anhalt's disaster protection act because, in the party's view, it no longer meets today's threats. The responsibilities, powers and duties of mayors and district administrators are to be clearly defined.

The BSW wants to renew the law on disaster protection. The law should say clearly who decides in an emergency. This mainly concerns mayors and district heads. The party says the state is not well prepared for disasters.

The BSW wants a standing state-level staff for disaster and civil protection and an updated disaster protection law. Protection is to be planned ahead, practiced regularly, and paid for by the state up front in an emergency.

The BSW wants a permanent crisis team for the state. This team plans how to protect people in disasters. There should be regular drills with the public. In an emergency, the state pays the costs first.

The BSW wants to strengthen volunteer fire departments financially and structurally. With state help, cash-strapped municipalities should be able to invest more in fire protection, and volunteering should become more attractive.

The BSW wants to help volunteer fire departments. Poor towns should get state money for fire protection. People who volunteer should get more pay and more recognition. Fire crews should have fewer side tasks.

The CDU wants to grow the state police to well over 8,100 staff and make officers more visible in local precincts. The Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) is also to be strengthened because, according to the platform, extremist activity is on the rise.

The CDU wants more police officers in the state. More than 8,100 people should work for the police. People should see the police more often where they live. The domestic intelligence agency should also get stronger. This agency watches extremists.

The CDU wants to create a system that identifies people who pose a danger early on and triggers countermeasures. To do this, information from different agencies would be pooled and assessed centrally.

Some people are a danger to others. The CDU wants to spot such people earlier. Agencies should share what they know. One central office should assess the dangers.

The CDU wants to give every police officer in the state a Taser to protect them better in dangerous situations. It also plans to invest in drone defense, artificial intelligence and police IT.

The CDU wants to give all police officers a Taser. A Taser is a device that stops attackers with an electric shock. The police should also get tools against drones. Their computer systems should get better.

The CDU wants to expand video surveillance in public places and allow AI-based analysis statewide that automatically detects suspicious behavior. It also wants bodycams to be used inside homes and to permit new forms of DNA analysis.

The CDU wants more cameras in public places. Computer programs should spot unusual behavior by themselves. Police officers should be allowed to use body cameras inside homes too. The police should be allowed to learn more about suspects from DNA.

The CDU wants to create a dedicated treatment service for mentally ill people who are considered prone to violence. It is modeled on prevention outpatient clinics in Bavaria and is meant to lower the risk of violent acts.

Some mentally ill people become violent. The CDU wants special treatment centers for them. There they get help before something happens. Bavaria already has such centers.

The CDU wants to test in selected municipalities whether municipal enforcement staff should carry police-grade pepper spray for self-protection. Municipalities are also to act more firmly against littering and dirt in public spaces.

Staff of local public order offices sometimes face danger. The CDU wants to give them pepper spray in some towns. This is a test at first. Towns should also do more against trash and dirt in the streets.

The CDU wants to preserve the volunteer fire departments and keep supporting municipalities with vehicles, fire stations and water supply points. The training institute in Heyrothsberge is to be expanded with more than 70 million euros, and civil protection is to be broadened.

The CDU wants to strengthen fire departments. The state will keep helping towns buy fire trucks. The fire training school in Heyrothsberge gets more than 70 million euros. For emergencies, some sites should keep water, power and fuel ready. The state will also keep paying for sirens.

The CDU wants to expand victim protection and secure lasting funding for counseling centers and women's shelters. Protecting women and children from violence in their own surroundings is the party's top priority here. Witnesses are also to be better protected.

The CDU wants to protect victims of violence better. Counseling centers and women's shelters should get reliable money. Women and children should get special protection. Witnesses should get more protection too.

The Greens want to continue adding police officers up to 7,000 positions and to strengthen police administration. The job is to become more attractive through promotions and more money for IT specialists.

The Greens want to hire more police officers. The goal is 7,000 positions. Police administration should also get more staff. Officers should be promoted faster.

The Greens reject mass surveillance through chat control or facial recognition. According to the platform, security needs and civil rights are to stay in balance.

The Greens do not want surveillance of everyone. The state should not scan private chats on a mass scale. Cameras should not recognize faces automatically. Safety and freedom should both count.

The Greens reject mass surveillance in stadiums, at assemblies, public events and markets. Analysis software such as Palantir should not be introduced in Saxony-Anhalt. New police capabilities should only be allowed with clear rules, oversight and time limits.

The Greens do not want large groups of people to be watched. This applies to stadiums, protests and markets. The police should not get the Palantir software. New police tools need clear rules and oversight.

The Greens want to turn the police college in Aschersleben into an independent university with its own research. Initial and ongoing training should focus on democratic values, human rights and de-escalation. The police should also actively recruit people from different groups in society.

The Greens want to change police training. The police college in Aschersleben should become independent and do research. Officers should learn more about human rights and calming down conflicts. The police should be as diverse as society.

The Greens want to create an independent body that investigates complaints and reports of misconduct in the police. It should be easy to reach, have far-reaching powers and report to the state parliament every year. According to the program, this should strengthen trust in the security authorities.

The Greens want a new office for complaints about the police. This office should be independent. Citizens and police officers can contact it. The office reports to the state parliament every year.

The Greens want to put rehabilitation and the prevention of new crimes more firmly at the center of the prison system. To this end, prison conditions are to be improved, staff increased, and psychosocial support and addiction treatment expanded. Therapy in prison is to be paid the same as work.

The Greens want to prepare prisoners better for life after prison. There should be more staff and more therapy in prisons. People who do therapy should be paid as much as for work. There should also be suitable prison places for women in the state.

The Greens want to abolish the Ersatzfreiheitsstrafe, meaning imprisonment for people who do not pay a criminal fine. In the program's view, it mainly affects people in difficult circumstances and rarely helps rehabilitation. It is to be replaced by alternatives such as installment payments and community service.

Some people cannot pay a fine. Today they then have to go to prison. The Greens want to end this. Instead there should be installments, community service and social support.

The Greens want to give volunteer fire departments, rescue and disaster-response services more financial support. The state is to contribute more for vehicles and buildings and compensate volunteers better. Employers are to be fully reimbursed for lost wages during call-outs.

The Greens want more money for fire departments and rescue services. The state should pay more for vehicles and fire stations. Volunteers should get better compensation. Companies get money back when workers leave for an emergency.

The Left wants violent parents to automatically lose custody and visitation rights for at least six months. Police and the judiciary would get mandatory training, and restraining orders could be monitored digitally in high-risk cases.

The Left wants stricter action against violence in families. A violent parent should not see the children for at least six months. Police and courts should have to take training. In very risky cases, technology should check that a restraining order is obeyed.

The Left wants to gear police and courts toward cybercrime, white-collar crime and AI-driven manipulation. Specialized units are to be created and prosecutors' offices given more staff. For hate crime, there are to be dedicated contact officers within the police.

The Left wants to fight new kinds of crime better. These include attacks on the internet and business fraud. There should be special teams for this. Prosecutors should get more staff. Victims of hate should have a fixed contact person at the police.

The Left wants to create an independent police complaints office with its own investigative powers. Citizens are to be involved in security policy questions, and the state parliament is to get stronger oversight rights. Security laws are to be reviewed regularly and repealed if they prove ineffective or violate fundamental rights.

The Left wants better oversight of the police. An independent office should look into complaints about the police. Citizens should have a say on security issues. The state parliament should get more oversight rights. Security laws should be checked regularly.

The Left wants to create 500 additional police positions by 2030 to increase presence and closeness to residents. It also backs individual identification, body cameras when firearms or Tasers are used, and an independent reporting system for far-right incidents in the agencies. Officers' weekly working time is to be reducible to 38 hours.

The Left wants 500 new police jobs by 2030. Officers should have more time for people. They should wear an ID marking. A body camera should film automatically when shots are fired. Officers should work only 38 hours a week.

The Left rejects facial recognition for mass surveillance and automated data analysis software such as Palantir for the police. Encryption is to be promoted rather than weakened, and people are to be told what data is stored about them and how to have it deleted. Artificial intelligence is to help solve cybercrime, not monitor uninvolved people.

The Left does not want mass surveillance. Cameras should not recognize faces on a mass scale. The police should not use software like Palantir. This software analyzes huge amounts of data automatically. People should know what data is stored about them.

The Left considers the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) superfluous in its current form and wants it to reset its priorities. In the long run, an agency for democracy and human rights is to take its place. It would mainly strengthen democracy work and civic education.

The Verfassungsschutz is the state's domestic intelligence service. The Left thinks it is not needed in its current form. It wants no more secret informants. Later, an agency for democracy and human rights should replace it. That agency should strengthen civic education.

The Left wants to protect the constitution through education and public information rather than covert surveillance. Paid informants are to be phased out, following the example of Thuringia, and replaced by exit counseling.

The Left wants to protect the constitution in a different way. There should be more education, for example in schools. The state should stop using paid informants. Informants are people who secretly report from inside a group. Instead, there should be counseling for people who want to leave extremist groups.

The Left wants to strengthen the relief agency and rescue services with modern equipment, more staff and regular training. Dispatch centers are to stay decentralized, and disaster-response training is to be expanded.

The Left wants to strengthen rescue services and the relief agency. They should get modern equipment and enough staff. Dispatch centers should stay in the region. A dispatch center takes emergency calls and sends help. There should be a new training ground.

The Left wants to reform, and in the long run scrap, the rule under which municipalities pay for official assistance during disasters. It argues that natural disasters are a task for society as a whole and that the costs must be shared in solidarity.

Sometimes towns need help from the army or the THW relief agency. This happens during floods or forest fires. Towns often have to pay a lot for this help. The Left wants to change that. Later, towns should pay nothing for it.

The Left wants to prepare the population better for crises and make coordination with operators of critical infrastructure public. Especially vulnerable facilities such as hospitals, schools and care homes are to receive targeted support.

The Left wants everyone to be ready for a crisis. There should be info events and free first-aid courses. Towns should have fixed places to go in an emergency. Companies for power, water and phones should make their emergency plans public. Hospitals, schools and care homes get special help.

The Left wants to fund fire departments through fixed, earmarked state allocations to municipalities instead of individual grant programs. A dedicated state program is meant to keep small rural fire departments from closing.

The Left wants to give fire departments steady money. The state should pay it to towns under clear rules. Towns decide for themselves what to buy. Small fire departments in rural areas get their own support program. No fire department should have to close.

The Left wants to improve conditions for volunteer and career firefighters. This includes guaranteed time off from work, full wage replacement, more training places and counting years of service toward pensions.

The Left wants more people to join the fire department. Volunteers should get time off work for call-outs. They should keep their full pay. Time in the fire department should count toward their pension. After hard call-outs, there should always be mental health support.

The Left wants to prepare fire departments for forest fires, floods and heat waves as consequences of climate change. It plans investment in prevention and equipment and close links with other relief organizations.

Climate change brings more forest fires, floods and heat. The Left wants to prepare fire departments for this. There should be wells for firefighting water. Forest roads should be usable for fire trucks. Fire departments should work closely with other helpers.

The Left treats investment in education, youth work and social services as crime policy, because in its view crime grows out of injustice and a lack of prospects. Rural areas are also to get mobile police and support services.

The Left wants to stop crime early. There should be more youth clubs and street social work. Victims of violence at home should find safe places. Rural areas should get mobile police stations and counseling. The Left says: People who can live well commit fewer crimes.

The Left wants to create specialized prosecutor's offices for far-right crimes and for gender-based violence. It points to a record level of politically motivated crime in 2024 and to recurring deadly violence against women.

The Left wants to set up special prosecutor's offices. One kind deals with far-right crimes. Another deals with violence against women. A femicide is the killing of a woman because she is a woman. Such crimes should be prosecuted more strictly.

The Left wants to initiate a criminal law reform at the federal level. Dumpster diving, riding without a ticket and abortion would no longer be crimes, while tougher rules would apply only to serious offenses. This is meant to relieve police and courts.

The Left wants to change criminal law. Riding without a ticket should no longer be a crime. Taking thrown-away food should also be allowed. Abortions should become legal. This gives police and courts less work.

The Left wants to support people who have experienced violence faster and with less red tape. To that end, the state's victim support fund is to grow and the victim protection clinics are to be secured and expanded.

The Left wants to help victims of violence better. The state should give more money for quick help. Medical exams after a violent crime should be free. Victims' addresses should be better protected.

The Left wants to abolish Ersatzfreiheitsstrafen (jail time in place of unpaid fines) via the Bundesrat and expand community service instead. Prisons are to focus more on reintegration, which the program says reduces reoffending and thereby also protects victims.

Today, people who do not pay a fine often go to jail. The Left wants to end that. These people should do community work instead. Prisoners should get more pay and more help. This should keep them from committing new crimes.

The Left wants juvenile criminal law to rely on prevention and education and to avoid confinement wherever possible. The aim is for young people to reoffend less often and integrate better into society.

The Left wants to lock up young people less often. They should learn and get support instead. The party rejects "warning shot" detention. That is a short detention on top of a suspended sentence. Schools should explain what is a crime.

The SPD wants to strengthen the police with sufficient personnel, modern equipment, and better working conditions. More money for promotions is meant to clear the promotion backlog, and pay would also be improved. At the same time, the independent police commissioner would be strengthened.

The police should have enough staff. They should get good technology and modern buildings. Police officers should be promoted faster. The police commissioner should become more independent. This person looks into complaints about the police.

The SPD wants to keep all existing prison sites in the state and not move any more prison places to other states. Housing inmates close to home is meant to support rehabilitation. Open prison arrangements would be used more often.

The prisons in Saxony-Anhalt should stay. Prisoners should not be moved to other states. They should stay close to their families. More prisoners should go to open prisons. There, prisoners have more freedom.

The SPD wants to keep supporting municipalities in fire protection and to continue buying fire trucks centrally through the state. A statewide needs plan for disaster protection is to be drawn up by 2031. All helpers are to have equal legal status during operations.

The SPD wants to strengthen fire departments in the state. The state will keep buying fire trucks for towns. There should be money for fire stations. By 2031 there should be a plan for disaster protection.