New police network | BetterPolice: "The police are not an immutable law of nature"

Your organization, BetterPolice, wants to democratize the police. Why is this necessary?

Chiara Malz: To protect democracy as a whole. If we isolate large armed units, equip them with a hierarchy and ever-increasing powers, then we won't create friends and helpers, but rather make it extremely easy for right-wing forces. Humanity, solidarity, empathy, and dialogue promote the political neutrality that the police need to protect the constitution and human rights and to prevent them from being instrumentalized by autocratic forces at some point in the future and obediently pursuing a fascist agenda.

You also want a representative police force. What does that mean?

CM: They say the police are a mirror of society. Looking at the numbers, that's not currently the case. The police are more male, more German, and more white than society . Resolving this imbalance, however, cannot simply involve squeezing women into a male structure; fundamental issues must be renegotiated.

Since 2024, the number of fatal police shootings has risen dramatically; most recently, a police officer shot a 21-year-old Black man in the back . Do you have an explanation?

Oliver von Dobrowolski: In most cases, the problem is that the police are not adequately trained in dealing with mentally ill people. We need crisis intervention teams like the Social Psychiatric Service, which are available 24/7. As for Oldenburg, it's unknown whether the police officer had racist thoughts . What I would affirm is that racist structures exist within the police institution.

To prevent lethal police violence, police unions are calling for the introduction of Tasers. Would that help?

OvD: Fundamentally no. The Taser is a tool like many others. In many cases, it's too dangerous and can be used as an instrument of torture—an Amnesty study has shown this. Similar to pepper spray, we have a problem with the Taser with people with cardiovascular disease or who are intoxicated—they simply react by dying when they're Tasered. The Taser doesn't work on thick clothing. If the use fails, it can also lower the inhibitions of other colleagues about using lethal force. We saw that in Dortmund with Mouhamed Dramé. Tasers belong only in the hands of special units.

And body cameras?

OvD: In the US, body cameras were initiated by the civil rights movement to prevent police violence —it works reasonably well there. In Germany, the discussion has drifted off track; most police departments use these devices only for one-sided evidence gathering or deterrence.

How does Better Police define police violence? When is it no longer legitimate?

CM: It's important to distinguish between legal police violence and unlawful police violence by individual police officers . When it comes to the question of legitimacy, we at BetterPolice are at the beginning of a negotiation process. We hope that BetterPolice will serve as a platform for clarifying such questions.

And what could be improved in terms of education or training to minimize police violence?

CM: Police officers receive extensive operational and shooting training, while communications training is not mandatory. In tense situations, an awareness team would be more appropriate than armed personnel, especially when dealing with mentally ill individuals. The Hamburg Police Department has exchange formats with marginalized groups such as the homeless or migrants to develop mutual understanding.

Have you experienced situations in your career where police force was used disproportionately?

CM: Because I'm personally active in the activism sector, I see how protest movements are handled. In the climate protest movement or in pro-Palestinian protests, situations arise where, in my view, proportionality is not maintained. There would be options, for example, to prioritize other measures over pain relief.

OvD: Pain restraints are not inherently bad or illegitimate; they are often a lesser measure. However, they are not appropriate for civil disobedience.

What can police officers do if they observe misconduct?

CM: In my experience, there aren't enough options. There are internal supervisory complaints procedures and a duty to remonstrate. However, superiors, just like the police, often monitor themselves within the hierarchy. Sometimes you complain to the person you want to complain about.

OvD: If you report or denounce something, you have to be aware that it can amount to social suicide. It can end your career and severely damage your private life.

There are now police commissioners who are also responsible for internal reports?

CM: Not everywhere. The position was established at the Federal Police in 2024. However, as with the identification requirement, there are several police forces where this is not the case.

OvD: Police advisory or monitoring centers often end up being paper tigers. Even in Berlin, where we have ample legislation and authority for the police commissioner, who says, "I can't do anything."

They demand more transparency in police work.

OvD: A good measure would be for authorities to proactively issue press releases when investigations are concluded and officers have been acquitted or disciplinary measures imposed. This would build trust.

Have you experienced police violence being ordered or approved from above?

OvD: Herbert Reul spoke of a "robust" police presence in North Rhine-Westphalia. For major operations like May Day or the G20, there are months of advance planning with operational concepts, and the threshold for intervention is also set from the top. In Germany, we have the problem that society as a whole has shifted to the right. There are also more right-wing governments or those involved in them. This is also noticeable in the police. The climate movements have taken a heavy toll as a result. Other civil society protests are also facing increased repression. We all look with horror at Trump in the USA. But in Saxony-Anhalt, too, the police were involved in preventing a Christopher Street Day.

CM: After the publication of Correctiv's 2024 research, there was an outcry against deportations; today, a coalition agreement that promises more deportations, more criminalization, and more surveillance seems perfectly normal. It will be much easier to order or condone police violence out of a misplaced sense of political neutrality if right-wing views become normalized throughout German society, and I consider that incredibly dangerous.

What role do the police unions play in this?

OvD: They are lobby groups. One, the German Police Association (DPolG), is considered by some to be a front organization for the AfD. The GdP, the largest union, also uses problematic language in some state chapters. This is a problem because policymakers rely on this supposed expertise. As BetterPolice, we want to counter this and show that there are also fresh and, above all, progressive voices.

There is a high-ranking official in one of the unions in question who regularly makes German nationalist statements on general political issues. Is he allowed to do that?

CM: I find it dangerous that, under the guise of a union, he is allowed to express things that violate the obligation of neutrality and, in some cases, even constitute criminal offenses. I find it even more dangerous that such statements are perceived as expert or official police opinion. That is absolutely not the case.

OvD: He's said so many things that make you think: This is no longer compatible with the Basic Law, and therefore also with the work he does in his full-time position. If you say something populist, you're taken seriously. If you say something progressive, you're shot down internally. There's no equality of arms here.

How did these unions react to the creation of Better Police ?

OvD: Not professionally at all.

I've been doing anti-repression work for 25 years. We've always worked hard on the police. Now there's the refreshing new approach of abolitionism, which seeks to find alternatives. What's your perspective on this?

CM: Oliver wrote in his book that the police are not an end in themselves. I'd like to put a really big exclamation mark on that. The fundamental question must be: What is security for us, and how do we ensure it? The police are not an immutable law of nature.

OvD: We need a critical look at our responsibilities. Is the police, who are called upon today to deal with all kinds of problems, the institution that should fix everything that's gone wrong in politics or education? No. The police deal with hundreds of thousands of things in which they, as the state executive, have no business.

Which?

OvD: Why aren't public order offices capable of handling cases like disturbances? Why does the police have to handle all traffic matters? Why aren't specialists equipped to operate crisis services? This demand has been around for years.