Extremism suspicions surround 200 German police officers
Around 200 police officers in Germany are suspected of right-wing extremism or embracing conspiracy theories, according to inquiries made by the German media outlets "Stern" and "RTL" to the interior ministries in all sixteen federal states.
According to the investigation, disciplinary or criminal investigations are currently being conducted against at least 193 state police officers due to suspicions related to adopting far-right ideas or embracing conspiracy ideologies. Estimates suggest that the actual number may be higher, as the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern did not provide clear figures, but merely indicated that there are about 80 cases under processing without specifying their political orientation.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, emphasized the seriousness of these cases, stating: "Each of these cases represents an unnecessary situation. All employees must fully adhere to the free democratic constitution both inside and outside of work." Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, said emphatically: "There is no place for extremist ideas among us, and anyone who does not understand that will be dismissed immediately."
Since 2020, more than 571 disciplinary actions or investigations have been opened or completed against police officers in German states due to suspicions of right-wing extremism or adopting conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, the actual number is believed to be higher, especially since states like North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern do not have analyzable statistics in this area.
It is worth noting that some states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, have stopped classifying cases by political orientation since last year, while Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has promised to provide updated figures only in the last quarter of this year.