Identification requirements for police officers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Police uniform models for the German state of Hesse with identification option

A mandatory labeling of policemen to the identifiability of individual police on duty - even in closed units - guaranteed. It is to be distinguished from the obligation to carry an ID card with you and to show it on request.

Most European countries require police officers to be labeled.

reasons

Proponents of mandatory labeling argue that the investigation of unlawful police violence by police forces is facilitated by individual labeling. This also prevents violence and increases trust in the police. The labeling requirement is one of the demands of the Federal Working Group of Critical Police Officers / Hamburger Signal, which was founded as a professional association after the events in the Hamburg Kessel . Opponents of the labeling requirement in Germany include the police union and the German police union . The GdP speaks of a "control mania against the police", the German police union fears an increase in "arbitrary allegations" against police officers without providing evidence. However, no significant increase in such allegations has been recorded since then in any European country that has introduced mandatory labeling. In November 2017, the European Court of Human Rights criticized the lack of identification of masked police officers.

Forms of implementation

There are currently two options for publicly visible labeling:

  1. Nameplates
  2. individual but anonymized numbers

In some countries, such as France, there are extensive forms of identification using a plastic identification card with name, identification number, rank and service address.

The type of identification required is often made dependent on the type of operation: A distinction is made here between patrol services , operations in units and undercover agents . There are also different police forces in each state, such as city, regional and national police.

In most of the countries where labeling is compulsory, exemptions are provided, according to which individual labeling can be reduced or omitted in certain situations. This includes operations in civilian clothes and undercover investigations as well as operations in which the security of the police officers must be feared. In Estonia in particular, police officers can do without wearing their name badges (but not their identification number) in situations that could endanger them or their families. In some countries, police officers are exempt from labeling when deployed in closed units.

Germany

The first markings come from Berlin in 1848, which was abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the second half of the 20th century, national associations of the Humanist Union first tried to make police officers in the countries mandatory.

The German section of Amnesty International is currently calling for a general labeling requirement in the More Responsible Police Campaign .

The discussions about the use of force by the police during the demonstrations against the Stuttgart 21 project in 2010 and against the transport of nuclear waste to the Gorleben nuclear waste storage facility also increased the requirement for labeling in other federal states.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, police officers in Berlin , Brandenburg , Bremen , Hesse , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Rhineland-Palatinate , Saxony-Anhalt , Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia have to be labeled . In Hamburg , the wearing of name badges is required, but not mandatory for all police officers. In North Rhine-Westphalia , Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Lower Saxony , Saarland , Saxony and the federal police there is no obligation to label.

Baden-Württemberg

The police in Tübingen responded to the debate in 1978 by marking the police officers in the traffic service . Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and the SPD agreed in their coalition agreement in 2011 to introduce individualized, anonymized identification of police officers at major events. In December 2014, Interior Minister Reinhold Gall announced the introduction of mandatory labeling in 2015. In November 2015 it was announced that the labeling requirement would not be introduced until the next election.

Bavaria

The parliamentary groups Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Bayern and the SPD Bayern in the Bavarian state parliament are campaigning for mandatory labeling.

Berlin

In 1848, the Berlin General Police Director Karl Ludwig Friedrich von Hinckeldey ordered the numbering of law enforcement officers of the Royal Police in Berlin . These were worn on the cylinders that were part of the uniform. After the cylinder was replaced by a helmet in 1852, there was initially a significantly smaller number on the shoulder flap and was abolished at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1978, then called the FDP in the Berlin House of mandatory labeling, initially for the contact area officials and was the subject of the election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1979 in the coalition agreement with the SPD bring. However, after protests by the police union and threats to resign from the then Police President Klaus Huebner , no labeling was introduced.

On October 12, 1984, the Alternative List submitted an unsuccessful application to the Berlin House of Representatives to require police officers to be labeled. Dieter Kunzelmann justified the motion in the plenary and wore a police uniform from the middle of the 17th century as an allusion to Hinckeldey . In 2002 the SPD and PDS agreed in a coalition agreement to introduce mandatory labeling. However, following protests by the police union, only voluntary numbering was introduced.

The attacks by a police officer on a demonstrator at the Freedom Instead of Fear demonstration in 2009 sparked heated discussions in Berlin that ultimately promoted the introduction of mandatory labeling in Berlin. Senator for the Interior Ehrhart Körting finally introduced mandatory labeling as an internal police instruction on July 25, 2011. Since then, officials have had the choice between wearing a name or a license plate. In November 2011, the entire staff council of the police was defeated by the Berlin administrative court . He had sued against the labeling requirement because there was no participation. A right of co-determination was not recognized here by the court.

At the moment, however, the Berlin riot police are explicitly excluded from individual identification. Interior Senator Ehrhart Körting explains in 2011: “For tactical reasons, the riot police now have four digits. The police chief's proposal includes that in future tactical identification should be either five digits or four digits and one letter, whereby these are not fixed on a single person, but rather on the composition of the group. In this respect, a change can definitely take place. I also think that's sensible. "

The left has criticized the fact that the state of Berlin does not prescribe any labeling regulations for external police officers as long as they are doing their duty in Berlin, for example at demonstrations. In 2013, parliamentarians Marion Seelig and Udo Wolf made a small inquiry that the problems predicted by the Senator for the Interior, Frank Henkel , had not come true after the mandatory labeling was introduced.

Brandenburg

Brandenburg was the first federal state to legally regulate the mandatory identification of police officers (GVBl. I, June 10, 2011, No. 10). The draft law was originally introduced by the CDU, but then found a large majority. According to this, Section 9, Paragraph 2 of the Brandenburg Police Act states: “Police officers wear a name tag on their uniforms when performing official acts . If closed units are used, the name tag is replaced by a label suitable for subsequent identification ”. This regulation has been in effect since January 1, 2013. The Humanist Union welcomed this regulation, even if it had advocated a more far-reaching regulation.

In September 2018, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court decided that the Brandenburg regulation on police identification was lawful. Two police officers from Brandenburg who wanted to obtain an exemption from the labeling requirement had complained. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the decision in September 2019. The encroachment on the police officers' right to informational self-determination is justified by strengthening the closeness to the citizens and the transparency of police work, as well as by facilitating the investigation of criminal offenses and official offenses.

Bremen

In the coalition agreement for the 2011 to 2015 electoral period, which was signed between the SPD and the Greens on June 28, 2011, it says: “We will introduce individualized, anonymous identification of the police for so-called 'major locations', while strictly safeguarding the right to informational self-determination of the police officers ”. In June 2014, the arbitration board decided to introduce mandatory labeling.

Hamburg

In response to the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017 , Interior Senator Andy Grote announced on June 23, 2018 that an individual six-digit number would be introduced on police uniforms from 2019. In July 2019, the Senate submitted a corresponding bill to the citizens , which provides for an anonymous individual identification of the state riot police in closed units. On October 23, 2019, the citizenship adopted the draft law in 1st and 2nd reading with the votes of the SPD, Greens and FDP. The regulation is to be tested first and is therefore limited to the end of 2021.

Hesse

In Hesse, the obligation to wear a name badge has been in place since 2008, but with exceptions and not for closed operations. After the state elections in Hesse in 2013 , coalition negotiations between the CDU and the Greens agreed to introduce the obligation to wear a sign with a name or a number. In December 2014, it was decided to introduce mandatory labeling with three interchangeable numbers. In July 2016, the Hessian Ministry of the Interior drew a positive balance. So there would have been no problems with the protection or anonymity of the officials who were involved in the protests against the opening of the new building for the European Central Bank . The number of reports against police officers is also falling.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania the Greens failed with a corresponding application in the state parliament on October 16, 2014. Although the ruling party SPD also referred to the advantages of mandatory labeling, it voted against a motion by the opposition Green parliamentary group. After the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2016 , the governing coalition of the SPD and CDU agreed in their coalition agreement to introduce mandatory labeling. The labeling requirement was introduced on January 1, 2018 with an administrative regulation.

Lower Saxony

In mid-March 2010, the Left submitted a corresponding motion to the Lower Saxony state parliament, but was rejected by the CDU parliamentary group. As part of the coalition negotiations after the state elections in Lower Saxony in 2013 , the SPD and the Greens included "individualized, anonymized identification of the police during closed operations" in their coalition agreement as one of their goals .

North Rhine-Westphalia

After the end of the Second World War , the service number of the police in the Rhineland was on the collar tab of the uniform jacket during the British occupation . In 2016, a change in the Police Act introduced mandatory labeling. On July 13, 2017, the NRW state parliament, with the votes of the CDU, FDP and AfD, commissioned the state government to draft a law to abolish the labeling requirement for police officers in North Rhine-Westphalia. On October 11, the CDU, FDP and AfD jointly voted to abolish the labeling requirement. The opposition spoke of a "black day for civil rights".

Rhineland-Palatinate

The labeling requirement is laid down in the coalition agreement of the red-green state government. From January 1, 2014, the identification of the police will be implemented. A central file is to be created for this purpose in order to guarantee the output and management of the numbers. Each police officer should wear one of three numbers. This is intended to identify them in case of doubt, but not immediately be able to be assigned by name. On August 31, 2014, police units wore the uniforms with identification for the first time.

Saxony

In Saxony, the Greens are in favor of mandatory labeling. Eva Jähnigen saw in 2010 the possibility "to [...] strengthen the trust of the citizens in the police and in democracy."

Saxony-Anhalt

As a parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, the SPD Saxony-Anhalt advised in August 2011 that police officers should be labeled. At the beginning of 2013, Rüdiger Erben (SPD) spoke out in favor of mandatory labeling after a membership decision in this direction had been made. Saxony-Anhalt's Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht (CDU) introduced mandatory labeling in the office and on patrol duty against the will of his parliamentary group . It has been in effect since April 1, 2012. He refused to require labeling during demonstrations. On a case in which a demonstrator was seriously injured by a police officer, said the Saxony-Anhalt CDU interior expert Jens Kolze , "As a democrat, you have to live with the fact that not all crimes can be solved." After the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt In 2016 , the governing coalition of the CDU, SPD and Greens agreed in its coalition agreement to expand the labeling requirement to include police officers in hundreds. On June 20, 2017, the state parliament voted to introduce mandatory labeling.

Schleswig-Holstein

From 2010, the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag received the printed matter 17/251 with a draft law intended to make the General Administrative Law for the State of Schleswig-Holstein (LVwG) more citizen-friendly by identifying police officers. The critical police officers also responded to the draft with a statement. In December 2012 a decree on the labeling obligation came into force.

Thuringia

In May 2017, the government coalition made up of the Left, SPD and Greens introduced mandatory identification for police officers.

Other states

In most countries of the European Union , police officers are obliged to identify them with a name tag or an identification number .

Country Labelling description
Belgium mandatory In the Belgian police force , members of all police units wear a plaque on their uniform with their surname, department and rank.
Denmark mandatory At the Danish police , officers have been required to wear a plate with an identification number since 2016.
Estonia mandatory The Estonian police require all police officers to wear a label with their full name and identification number.
Finland no In the Finnish police force , officers are only required to provide identification if requested.
France mandatory In the French police force , police officers are required to carry an identification card with their name, rank and address.
Greece mandatory With the Greek police , police officers carry an identification number at all times, with the exception of the highest ranks.
Italy mandatory At the Italian police , police officers are marked with an identification number and must also show their ID on request.
Lithuania mandatory At the Police of Lithuania , all police officers are required to wear a label with their full name and an identification number
Netherlands no In the Dutch police force , officers are only required to provide identification upon request.
Austria no The Austrian police do not have to label them. Police officers are obliged to show their ID card or their service number on request, provided that this does not prevent them from performing their current task.
Poland mandatory In the Polish police force , police officers wear a label with their name and rank.
Romania mandatory In the Romanian Police , all police officers are required to wear a label with their full name and an identification number.
Sweden as required In the Swedish police force , police officers are not marked, unless they are illegible, for example by wearing a helmet, in which case they must openly wear a number or their ID card. Upon request, they must show their ID card.
Switzerland regional In 2011, the Zurich City Council decided that a visible service number for the Zurich City Police should prevent officers from exercising violence anonymously.
Slovakia mandatory In the Slovak police force , all police officers are required to wear a label with their full name and an identification number.
Slovenia mandatory At the Slovenian police , officers can choose between both.
Spain mandatory In the Spanish police force , all uniformed police officers have an identification number.
Czech Republic mandatory In the Czech police force , all uniformed police officers have an identification number.
Hungary mandatory In the Hungarian police force , police officers wear a label with their name and rank.
United Kingdom regional In the UK police force , labeling is a matter for the regional police force. Labels with names or identification numbers and the respective badge of rank are provided.
United States mandatory Police officers in the United States have been wearing name tags since 1975; many also have a personnel number.
Cyprus mandatory The police of Cyprus obliges all police officers to wear a label with their full name and an identification number.

literature

  • Tristan Barczak: The labeling requirement for police officers in the light of constitutional law. In: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht , 2011, pp. 852–855.
  • Anja Heinrich: More transparency and control in the police. Berlin and Brandenburg introduce police identification, other federal states will follow suit. In: Till Müller-Heidelberg (Ed.): Fundamental Rights Report 2012. On the situation of civil and human rights in Germany. S. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-596-19422-3 , pp. 168-172.
  • Lieselotte Hinz: Social determinants of "police operations". Empirical data on the identification of police officers. In: Working group of young criminologists (ed.): The police. An institution of public authority. Analysis, criticism, empirical data. Luchterhand, Neuwied / Darmstadt 1975, ISBN 3-472-58020-8 , pp. 135–158.
  • Birgit Thinnes: Ways out of the anonymity of the state: A criminological-empirical contribution to the police's obligation to label. Verlag für Policewissenschaft, Frankfurt am Main, 2014, ISBN 978-3-86676-360-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Amnesty International on mandatory labeling ( memento of April 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Opinion of the German Lawyers' Association by the Hazard Defense Law Committee on the requirement of mandatory labeling for police officers ( memento of December 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 46 kB), July 2010.
  3. ↑ a b Answer to the chairman of the Interior and Legal Committee in the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament on April 23, 2010. Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, reprint 17/759 (PDF; 57 kB)
  4. ^ GdP Lower Saxony: No labeling requirement for police officers
  5. ↑ gdp.de ( Memento from June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Amnesty report on alleged police violence in Germany - DPolG: mandatory labeling endangers police officers
  7. ↑ a b c d Info letter from the Scientific Service of the German Bundestag from April 18, 2011 (PDF; 84 kB)
  8. ↑ HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b Police marking in Berlin and Brandenburg Humanist Union
  10. ↑ Cf. demands of the campaign "More responsibility for the police" ( Memento from December 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Police officers no longer anonymous , n-tv , November 26, 2010.
  12. ↑ Amnesty international report ( Memento of the original from March 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amnestypolizei.de
  13. ↑ Thirty-three Tübingen traffic policemen have recently started wearing name tags on their uniforms. Colleagues in other federal states criticize the innovation. In: Der Spiegel . 20/1978.
  14. ^ Jan Sellner: Unions outraged: Protest against police marking. Stuttgarter Nachrichten , March 4, 2014, accessed on July 22, 2014 .
  15. ↑ Labeling is coming. Stuttgarter Nachrichten , December 30, 2014, accessed on January 17, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Police officers remain incognito. SWR , November 26, 2015, accessed on December 14, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Policeman, identify yourself! In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  18. ↑ Uniforms through the ages ( Memento from February 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ^ Aribert Reimann: Dieter Kunzelmann. Avant-garde, protester, radical (= critical studies on historical science . Vol. 188). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-525-37010-0 , p. 280.
  20. ↑ Coalition Agreement 2002 (PDF; 2.9 MB), p. 13.
  21. ^ New coalitions on the streets , taz , September 12, 2010.
  22. ^ New demo against surveillance , Der Tagesspiegel , September 10, 2010.
  23. ↑ Police start issuing name tags , Der Tagesspiegel , July 24, 2011.
  24. ↑ The labeling obligation remains. In: taz . November 16, 2011. (online)
  25. ↑ de.indymedia.org
  26. ↑ parlament-berlin.de ( Memento from March 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ Die Linke Berlin Individual identification by the Berlin police - the most important questions. on the website of DIE LINKE. Regional Association Berlin June 24, 2011.
  28. ↑ Small question from the MPs Marion Seelig and Udo Wolf (PDF; 153 kB)
  29. ↑ Do n't worry about the number. on: taz .de , September 6, 2013.
  30. ↑ BVerwG 2 C 32.18 - judgment of September 26, 2019; BVerwG 2 C 33.18 - judgment of September 26, 2019.
  31. ↑ Compulsory labeling for law enforcement officers in Brandenburg is constitutional. Press release No. 67/2019. Federal Administrative Court , September 26, 2019, accessed on September 27, 2019 .
  32. ↑ agreemen ts to cooperate in a government coalition for the 18th term of the Bremen City Parliament 2011-2015.
  33. ↑ Labeling obligation agreed weser-kurier.de, June 12, 2014
  34. ↑ Hamburg wants to make police officers on duty recognizable , time
  35. ^ Obligation to label riot police: law. In: The world . October 23, 2019, accessed December 12, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Short minutes on the agenda of the citizenship. Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 1.30 p.m. (21st electoral term / 106th meeting). Hamburg Citizenship , October 25, 2019, p. 18 , accessed on December 12, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Submission of a draft law for a "Fifth Act to Amend the Hamburg Public Officials Act (HmbBG)"; At the same time, the Senate's opinion on the public request of November 1, 2018 on printed matter 21/14582. Printed matter 21/17905. Hamburg Citizenship , July 30, 2019, accessed on September 28, 2019 .
  38. ^ " Obligation to label police officers" Frankfurter Rundschau
  39. ↑ Numbers for police officers. Frankfurter Rundschau , December 11, 2014, accessed on January 17, 2015 .
  40. ↑ 14,000 police officers equipped with numerical identification. Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport , July 19, 2016, accessed on November 14, 2017 .
  41. ↑ Police officers remain anonymous svz.de, October 16, 2014
  42. ^ This is in the new coalition agreement nordkurier.de, October 17, 2016
  43. ↑ SMALL INQUIRY from MP Peter Ritter, DIE LINKE parliamentary group Implementation of mandatory labeling. February 26, 2018, accessed June 26, 2020 .
  44. ^ Coalition agreement 2013 to 2018. SPD Lower Saxony , accessed on February 18, 2015 . P. 17
  45. ↑ Renewal and cohesion. Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Niedersachsen , archived from the original on February 19, 2015 ; Retrieved February 18, 2015 . P. 17
  46. ↑ Numbered police officers. taz , February 16, 2015, accessed on February 18, 2015 .
  47. ↑ Otto Diederichs: Never ending story - identification of police officers. at: Bürgerrechte & Polizei / CILIP .
  48. ↑ Bodycams and mandatory labeling for police officers are coming ( memento of the original from April 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ruhrnachrichten.de, July 6, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ruhrnachrichten.de
  49. ↑ Sebastian Weiermann: With the votes of #CDU, #FDP and #AfD, it was decided in the NRW state parliament to abolish the mandatory identification of police officers. #ltnrw. In: @SWeiermann. July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017 .
  50. ↑ request of the CDU and the FDP parliamentary group: printed matter 17/75. In: Drucksache 17/75. LANDTAG NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA, July 4, 2017, accessed on July 13, 2017 .
  51. ↑ State Parliament abolishes mandatory labeling for police officers. In: www1.wdr.de. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017 .
  52. ↑ Police: There is definitely a labeling requirement
  53. ↑ Lewentz: Marking underlines citizen-friendly police ( Memento from April 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  54. ↑ Police officers in Rhineland-Palatinate wear controversial numbers on uniform for the first time
  55. ^ Eva Jähnigen: Saxony's GREEN for mandatory identification of police officers. YouTube channel of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Sachsen , January 14, 2010, accessed on July 12, 2013 .
  56. ↑ Heirs: The police officers' obligation to label is discussed in detail in the Interior Committee. SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, September 8, 2011, accessed on July 12, 2013 .
  57. ↑ a b c SPD wants numbered police officers. Mitteldeutsche Zeitung , January 6, 2013, accessed on July 12, 2013 .
  58. ↑ protesters? Dangerous, dangerous! Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 4, 2012, accessed on July 31, 2014 .
  59. ↑ CDU rejects individual identification of civil servants. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , January 7, 2013, archived from the original on January 10, 2013 ; Retrieved June 7, 2016 .
  60. ↑ Sharper labeling for police officers volksstimme.de, September 20, 2016
  61. ↑ Police in Saxony-Anhalt get body cameras volksstimme.de, June 20, 2017
  62. ↑ Schleswig-Holstein: mandatory identification for police officers neue-deutschland.de, December 14, 2012
  63. ↑ Thuringian police officers should wear numbers thueringer-allgemeine.de, May 2, 2017
  64. ↑ The Local: Danish cops wear ID badges for first time since 1918. February 1, 2016, accessed on July 17, 2020 (English).
  65. ↑ tagesanzeiger.ch
  66. ^ Statement by the German Lawyers' Association ( Memento from December 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 46 kB)