After an allegedly racist incident by police officers in Berlin, the Senate sharply criticized an official involved. “The Senate strongly condemns such behavior, it is absolutely unacceptable,” said Interior Secretary Torsten Akmann (SPD) on Monday in the Interior Committee of the House of Representatives. “We don’t want such a police officer in Berlin.” All police officers are obliged to respect and protect human dignity. “There was a massive violation of this.” Many employees are ashamed.
According to the police, a video from September 9 had raised suspicions of “xenophobic insult”. The video shows how two police officers want to arrest a man in his apartment, there is an argument, the wife says that this is her apartment. A policeman replies: “This is my country and you are a guest here.” And shortly afterwards: “Shut up, don’t touch me again. (…) I’ll take you to jail.”
According to the police, the police officer was transferred to the office. The police are now investigating the disciplinary and criminal consequences. The police officers in turn reported the couple for resistance and other allegations.
State Secretary Akmann clearly defended the police against a Nazi comparison made by Left-wing MP Ferat Kocak. It annoys him very much when voices are raised that question the police as a whole, he said on Monday. A comparison to one of the darkest chapters in history in Berlin is “intolerable”. Kocak said on Saturday: “We don’t just have a problem with racism in the police force, we have a Nazi problem.”
Police chief Barbara Slowik said in the interior committee that the police had not apologized so far. Because of the ongoing investigations, they do not want to “get in touch with the family directly”.
