Police in Saxony-Anhalt: Personal bottleneck brake our security!

Police in Saxony-Anhalt: Personal bottleneck brake our security!

The police in Saxony-Anhalt face major challenges. With only about 6,400 police officers, the staff is currently significantly below the target of 7,000 to 2026. But Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang assumes that this goal can only be achieved in early 2028. The reason for the delay? The increase in dropouts and high diarrhea rates during exams. Zieschang even thinks about raising the goal of the police forces, since the requirements for the police are growing steadily, such as [radiosaw.de] (https://www.radiosaw.de/artikel/Sachsen-Anhalt-personalbangel-bei-der-polizei).

A look at the training landscape shows that ex-principal Frank Knöppler points out the high dropout rates in police training. He emphasizes that both professional education and physical fitness are essential for a career with the police. Knöppler suspects that increased advertising on social media may attract unsuitable candidates. Under the reasons for early termination of training courses, the failure of exams, missing driving licenses, but also breaches of duty and criminal proceedings can be found. Overall, Knöppler sees the University of Applied Sciences in Aschersleben in the upper third in the nationwide comparison of all police colleges, as mdr.de.

challenges and reform needs

Another big topic is the lack of qualified applicants for police training. Over 11,000 applicants have registered in NRW by May - however, the intended number of 3,000 qualified candidates could not be reached. The state government has extended the application deadline for the next year of training, since high diarrhea rates of 20% are determined annually during specialist exams. A new regulation that will come into force from September 1st allows you to repeat it up to twice after two failure. This so-called "joker solution" is intended to help to sort out suitable candidates without giving away potential talents wdr.de.

The Bund of German Criminal Police (BDK) also indicates the personnel pieces in the criminal police in Saxony-Anhalt. Knöppler demands targeted training that also focuses more on special areas of responsibility. This could also be achieved through additional courses for prospective criminal police officers. Internships and practical modules should also be integrated into the training in order to better prepare the young people for the challenges of everyday police life. Uwe Bachmann from the police union (GdP) also sees an urgent need for action.

All of these aspects show that the police in Saxony-Anhalt and NRW are not only faced with major challenges in terms of personnel bottlenecks, but also during training. It remains to be seen how the planned reforms can improve the situation and whether the necessary specialists will follow the call to the police.