Tag Archives: Berlin

Breaking: Police Prevent Terror Attack On Berlin Half Marathon

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3:45 PM CET

An original translation from Die Welt:

Police Prevent Terror Attack On Berlin Half Marathon

Police have arrested four men from the social circle of the Breitscheidplatz [Berlin Christmas market – translator] terrorist Anis Amri. The main suspect planned knife attacks on passers-by at the Berlin Half Marathon. The motive is allegedly revenge.

According to information obtained by Die Welt, Berlin Police prevented an attack at the Berlin Half Marathon. Special Forces arrested four men, the main suspect among them. He allegedly planned to kill audience members and participants of Sunday’s sports event.

According to information by Welt, the suspect is from the social circle of the terrorist Anis Amri. One of the apartments that is being searched now, in City West, had already been searched after the attack on Breitscheidplatz before Christmas 2016.

Detection dogs, specifically trained on explosives, barked in the basement of an alleged accomplice of the main suspect, who was overpowered by the SEK [German elite police forces – translator]. A high-ranking police leader said to Welt: „We are still analyzing. But it seems this was a close call.“

The main suspect allegedly had two extra sharpened knives to carry out his planned bloody deed. But as the man had been under the surveillance of security authorities for quite some time, there was allegedly no concrete danger.

A successful attack in Berlin, similar to the deed in Münster on Saturday, would have hit a crowded inner city where lots of people are up and about. 32,000 runners, more than ever before in its history, attended this year’s 38th Berlin Half Marathon. The mild spring weather drew a large audience.

Just before noon, the interior senator of Berlin, Andreas Geisel (SPD), had declared in view of the attack of Münster that he had reviewed the already strict security measures. But there was no imminent danger. This is true in that a mobile force (MEK) had been surveying the friend of Amri 24/7 for quite some time, and the Berlin SEK were prepared to overpower and arrest him on Sunday at any given time.

According to security circles, the man wanted to avenge the death of his friend Amri with the knife attack. The Tunisian had plowed into the crowd on the Christmas Market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with a truck on the evening of December 19, 2016.

The first severe islamistic attack in Germany took the lives of twelve. Other visitors to the Christmas Market were severely wounded. Amri managed to flee unidentified from the crime scene and travel across half of Europe for a few days. On December 23., he was shot by Italian police officers near Mailand.

Berlin Half Marathon 2018. In the background the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church where the 2016 attack on the Christmas Market took place. Photo: SCC EVENTS / Camera4 via Berliner Halbmarathon

Berlin: 87-Year-Old Lady Maimed In Brutal Robbery In Broad Daylight

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After 10 days of investigation, Berlin Police have now released these wanted photos of the suspect in an extraordinarily cruel attack on an 87-year-old lady.

The man is suspected to have mugged an 87-year-old lady in Berlin, and wounded her massively. Photos: Berlin Police.

The original account of the assault is extremely disturbing, please be aware of that, if you wish to read on.

Continue Reading →

[Updated] Berlin: Mass Fight Between Turk and Arab Police Students

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UPDATE: this incident took place in January 2017 (original story here).

Berliner Kurier broke it as a new incident on December 23. They have since taken it offline, so the link below won’t work anymore. We apologize. We always double-check. This mistake though was made by Berliner Kurier. They now took their story offline without explanation and without a retraction so we researched and found out why. If we make a mistake, we set it right and inform our readers; we don’t just quietly delete a page.

An original translation from Berliner Kurier:
Charlottenburg –
Mass fight in Berlin

Police Students Go Off
Large Police Unit Had To Move In!

23.12.17

Police operation in their own ranks: In Berlin, more than two police students came to blows and started a fight.

All this while our future guardians of law and order should be role models. Mid-last week, allegedly, a large police unit of a hundred officers were called to the cafeteria of the police academy Charlottenburger Chaussee.

Trainers wanted to mediate
First reports said that there was a mass fight between police students. Moreover, there were several injured – among them trainers. Shortly after the operation, allegedly there was an order to manage the affair “internally”.

It is still unclear whether this is true indeed. But “Berliner Kurier” knows from a reliable source that first, an argument, and then a brawl, broke out between police trainees of Turkish and Arabic background.

Allegedly, police internally are well aware that there have been repeated conflicts between these two ethnic groups.

For background information:

Berlin police: “This is the enemy in our own ranks”, Nov. 1, 2017 – a police trainer describes hate, non-compliance and violence in migrant-heavy police academy classes.

The Berlin Police chief responsible for the current situation, explaining already in 2012 how she was going to improve the police by “diversifying” it:

Breaking: Burning Car Rams Into Social Democratic Party SPD Headquarters, Berlin

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Berlin – around midnight (CET), a burning car rammed through the glass front of the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD.

The driver has been taken to hospital.

Die Welt file it under “accident” and report that the driver intended to commit suicide. According to F.A.Z., the initial charge is planning grave arson.

The car was filled with three canisters of gasoline, bottles of other inflammable substances, and a propane gas cartridge, and burnt from the inside. The Federal Office For Criminal Investigations,  Bundeskriminalamt, took over investigations.

“Police Berlin: Around midnight, a man drove into the foyer of the SPD headquarters in the Willy Brandt Building in Kreuzberg. Apart from the driver, no one was wounded. Our LKA took over investigations.”

“Police Berlin: The driver states he steered his car into the building with the intent of suicide. First investigations by our LKA confirm this.”

 

Germany: A Government, Failing The Minimum Requirements Of Humanity

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BERLIN – It took chancellor Merkel one year to meet the survivors and the families of the victims of the Berlin Christmas Market terror attack at last.

Parts of the German press have found unusually strong words for her conduct and the statement that she made. Watch her statement on video, and read on for the commentaries.

Below are a full translation from Cicero, and a translation from n-tv in excerpts.

1. An original translation from conservative monthly Cicero:

Remembrance at Breitscheidplatz

A Disruption Of Business Operations

By Alexander Kissler, Dec. 19, 2017

One year ago, there was an Islamist attack on Berlin Breitscheidplatz that took twelve lives. At the memorial service, it became clear: Angela Merkel can’t speak, because she has got nothing to say. She offers empathy under reserve.

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What Was The Role Of Intelligence Services In The Berlin Christmas Market Attack?

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Germany – The following research by Stefan Aust and Helmar Büchel suggests that all the unexplainable “accidents” the German authorities made in dealing with Anis Amri in the year leading up to his attack might not have been accidents after all.

An original translation from Die Welt/Welt Am Sonntag.

Anis Amri under surveillance as early as 2015
By Stefan Aust, Helmar Büchel
Dec. 17, 2017, 00:01h

New insights in the case Amri: The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already appointed a dedicated case handler to Amri. Why did she not raise the alarm?

The Berlin Christmas Market attacker Anis Amri was under surveillance, being shadowed and intercepted, much earlier than authorities and Federal government have admitted until now.
This is what emerges from thousands of files, dozens of confidential informant reports, and the protocols of the telephone and internet surveillance, which Welt Am Sonntag have exclusively obtained.
No later than November 2015, the Federal Attorney in Karlsruhe had the Tunisian pointedly surveyed by the Federal Office For Criminal Investigations (BKA) and the Land Office For Criminal Investigations (LKA) North Rhine-Westphalia, by a confidential informant of the police who calls himself “Murat” and appears in the documents as “VP01”.
The measure was part of the covert investigations against the alleged IS terror cell of the hate preacher Abdullah Abdullah from Hildesheim who is known under his pseudonym“Abu Walaa”.
As early as November 24., 2015, more than one year before the attack on the Breitscheidplatz, “VP01” reported concrete terror plans of Amri to the LKA Düsseldorf. From there, they were – just as all further insights – reported on to the BKA, the General Attorney, and the Federal Office For The Protection Of The Constitution. From no later than December 3., 2015, on, the often changing mobile phones of Amri were intercepted, and his internet connections surveyed.

Amri downloaded instructions for explosives
Already on December 14., 2015, Anis Amri downloaded detailed instructions for mixing explosives, and for the construction of bombs and hand grenades, on his smart phone that was intercepted 24/7. From no later than February 2, 2016 on, Amri had phone conversations on this intercepted telephone with two IS cadres on the intermediate level of command, and offered himself as suicide attacker for an attack in Germany.

With the help of the police informant “VP01”, the Intelligence Officers managed the same month to enter the encrypted chat communication of Amri with the IS cadres in the messenger services telegram and whatsapp. While the Federal Government is claiming until now that BND (German Intelligence Service) and BfV (Office For The Protection Of The Constitution), had no operative parts in the Amri case, Welt am Sonntag have obtained emails and files from the authorities that prove a greater role of the German intelligence services. Already in January 2016, the BfV authored a two-page analysis of Anis Amri that was signed by BfV chief Maaßen personally.

12.000 The BKA (Federal Office For Criminal Investigation) sent 12,000 documents to the Office For Protection Of The Constitution.
More than 12,000 files, among them the communication with Amri’s IS contacts in Libya, which were secured from Amri’s smart phone on February 18., 2016, were sent by the BKA to the BfV. This is proven by the evaluating report of the BKA. The Federal Office For Protection Of The Constitution even appointed a dedicated case handler to Anis Amri. This agent (her name is known to Welt Am Sonntag) is employed in the anti terror department of the BfV in Berlin. She is on the same compound with the BKA’s Department 33 for the Protection Of The State which is responsible for Amri, too.
Welt Am Sonntag’s research also proves that Amri had even before his arrival in Italy in April 2011 close personal and even family ties with fighters and leading cadres of the Islamic State in Libya. These contacts were known to the Tunisian secret service for years. BKA and Federal Attorney demonstrably learnt of these family ties of Amri to the Islamic State, when they intercepted a phone call where Amri talked about a death of a cousin, fighting for the IS.
The reason why, in spite of these early, and crushing, findings of the German intelligence agencies, Amri was not arrested already one year before the attack in Berlin, does not emerge from the files available. But several months of investigations by Welt Am Sonntag suggest an involvement of international intelligence services. They might have seen a bait in Amri which would lead them to his instigators, the IS terror attack planners, in Libya.

US air force attacked IS camp
Indeed, Amri was, according to findings of Welt am Sonntag, put under the Italian intelligence service AISI’s surveillance immediately after he was released from deportation custody in May 2015. Allegedly, they lost him, when he went on his way to Germany. Few weeks after he was shot near Milano, B2 stealth bombers from the US air force attacked, in a secret operation managed from Germany, exactly that IS desert camp in Libya, where the instigators of the Breitscheidplatz are suspected.

Hans-Christian Ströbele, member of the secret service control committee of the Bundestag, therefore suspects in an interview with Welt am Sonntag the “governing hand” of a US intelligence service or the US military behind the „otherwise inexplicable“ non-arrest of Anis Amri. The fact that the Federal government has not delivered the solving of the background, which was promised by Merkel the day after the attack,“is a massive scandal”, says Ströbele.

Translator’s note:
Abbreviations:
BfV, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic security agency.
BKA, Bundeskriminalamt, Federal Criminal Office, Germany’s authority for investigating international organized crime, terrorism and other cases related to national security.
BND, Bundesnachrichtendienst, Federal Intelligence Service, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency.
LKA, Landeskriminalamt, State Criminal Office, national, independent law enforcement agency in each of the 16 German states.

Berlin: Angela Merkel makes a “spontaneous” Gesture

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Berlin: Angela Merkel today made a “spontaneous” visit to the scene of the terror attack on the Berlin Christmas market, after criticism of her for completely ignoring for a full year the survivors of the attack, and the families of the victims, was growing audible. See our report here.

Berlin: “If I encounter an Israeli or an American here in the street, they would be dead.”

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1. An original translation from Berliner Zeitung B.Z.:
After Burning Stars of David:
This is how Great the Hatred for Israel is in Berlin

December 12., 2017
Since Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, the atmosphere among Muslims is seething. They burnt Israel flags in Berlin. Just how big is the hatred?

At a hate-demonstration at Brandenburg Gate, Israel flags were burnt. B.Z. talked to young Muslims in the problem district Neukölln [Berlin – translator]. What is their opinion on Israel and Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as its capital?

Disturbing: After just a few minutes, several young men positioned themselves against Israel.
B.Z. think it is important to document their statements so that politicians will react to this.


Abdul (23) says: „F*** Israel! Trump is a dog. He does as he pleases. Israel is not a country, it came into being only by the Brits. If I encounter an Israeli or an American here in the street, they would be dead. I swear by my god.“ (Photo: Mohabat-Rahim Parwez)

Mamonn (30): „Trump has no right to speak about Palestine and Jerusalem. It’s not his country. Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel. It is the old problem: Who has got the right for the land? Israel or Palestine? I attended the recent protest. Israel came and took the land from Palestine. I did not see the burning flags in Berlin, but that is not proper.“

Abdullah (31): „Israel does not exist for me. I think that the US congress and the White House know that Trump is evil. I attended the recent protests in Berlin. We have only this way, only our hope. I am opposed to burning flags. The Israelis are like us. But they divide the Palestinians.“

Hakan (19): „Israel is not a country in its own rights, they occupied the land of the Palestinians. I don’t condone setting flags on fire. But somehow one should take a stance against what’s happening in the region. Trump’s idea to move the embassy is moronic.“

2. The following videos are taken between December 8 and December 12 at different locations in Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Hauptbahnhof, and on the streets of the districts of Mitte and Neukölln.
Thank you Martin for the videos!

 

 

Just whose Mutti exactly is Merkel?

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Families and survivors of the Berlin Christmas market attack have to this day not received a letter or word of condolence from the German government. For some families, all official communication they received was an invoice from the morgue:

The bill sent to terror victim’s family instead of condolences

This news story reminded me of this photo:

Merkel meets the family of an Imam whose Mosque was attacked, Reunification day celebrations, October 2016

The story behind this photo is that this is an Imam and his family, being official guests at the reunification day celebrations and meeting Merkel, because just a week before, a small blasting agent exploded in front of their Dresden DiTiB-Fatih-Camii-Mosque.
The official spokesman of the German government tweeted out the photo.

Berlin Police: “We will have hell on the streets in a few years”

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The latest in the still evolving Berlin police academy scandal, which was caused by recruiting about 40% migrant students, in order to diversify the police.
For a list of the previous reports, please scroll to the end of this post, or just click here.

1. State media downplaying: “‘Concerned Citizens’ are a greater threat to the subversion of the police than Arab clans”

State media NDR: “Concerned Citizens are a greater threat to the subversion of the police than Arab clans. Concerned Citizens subvert the police.” Source: Twitter.

Author Kaveh Kooroshy argues that “racist imagination” is a far greater problem than a few criminal Arab clan members in the police, and demands – wait for it, not that the allegations should be looked into, but that

“Immediately, those who make such allegations and who train (!) police officers, should be identified and sanctioned.”

Gee you got to wonder why they made the allegations anonymously?

“Concerned Citizen” is a rather recent slur in Germany. It ridicules people who find the opening of the borders and the uncontrolled influx of undocumented people worrying. That a state outlet, funded by the tax money of those same “concerned citizens”, uses the expression is a new low though.

In case you were wondering if “a threat to the subversion of the police” is a translation mistake – unfortunately, no. It appears that German state media NDR is already subverted – by people incapable of syntax.

 

3. On Police Trainee Gang Members and Trojan Horses: 

A female police trainee with Arab background photographed documents regarding an Arab clan, and sent the documents to a Whatsapp group:

 

3. Die-hard Erdogan supporters in the Berlin police force
An original translation from Berliner Morgenpost:

BERLIN POLICE
Instructor: “Turkish Nationalism” at the Police Academy

New allegations surface in the debate about the police academy. There is allegedly a problem with Turkish nationalism.
November 10., 2017
By Andreas Gandzior and Martin Nejezchleba

New allegations surface in the debate about the police academy. Instructors confirm criticism of the lack of quality of the graduates. “Spiegel” reports that a while ago, almost a whole class failed at the exercises of the shooting training, and they quote an officer: “When their practical qualifications are already zero, just how bad are their legal qualifications?”

Police instructors were allegedly worrying about the subjects civic education and history in the education. These were just as important as the right handling of a gun, a teacher told the magazine. “If this goes awry, then we will have hell on the streets in a few years”. But a speaker of the Berlin Police rejected this account: “I do not see any connection between their skills in the shooting training, and their competencies in legal matters”, a police speaker said to Berliner Morgenpost. “This is bizarre.” It were true that a class, due to the bottlenecks at the shooting ranges, completed and passed the shooting exam later than intended in the education. “It goes without saying that it is a very important goal of the police academy leadership to quickly recognize trainees whose aptitude regarding constitutionality and personal integrity was doubtful”, he added. “If there is substance and weight to such doubts, then we will part from such trainees.”

Benjamin Jendro, spokesman of the Police Union (GdP), demanded: “The police’s structural reform must immediately be stopped, and the problem must be addressed at the root.” Attention should be paid carefully during the education as to whether the recruit is suitable for the job. Jendro pointed out that it isn’t the requirements for employment which had changed, but the examination requirements. “These days, graduates of the academy pass the exams who, just a few years ago, would have failed”.

Erdogan-supporters among young policemen

“Spiegel” also reports that there are increasingly anti-democratic attitudes and Turkish nationalism among the junior employees. “I don’t know how long it will go well when die-hard Erdogan fans are deployed to Kurdish demonstrations”, one instructor said. An officer who does not want his name mentioned confirmed this to Morgenpost: “It is a fact that, among our Turkish students, we have strict Erdogan supporters”, he said. “Personally, I see this in a very critical light, but it is tolerated as freedom of opinion in the institution.”

The longstanding policeman also criticizes particular instructors. They lacked assertiveness, he said. “The students’ civil service status can be recalled, and if the instructors shy away from using this as a leverage, to ensure orderliness, punctuality and discipline, then they should question themselves”, he said.

Barely any instructor is willing to speak about the allegations against the police academy. “Maybe people who write anonymous letters just have issues with foreigners”, says, for an instance, Ercan at the entrance to the police academy in Ruhleben [Berlin – translator]. He is son of a Turkish immigrant family, and started police training a few months ago. Allegedly, no one heard of violence or racist hatred among schoolmates. But many worry that the negative press will reflect on all police recruits with migration background. Hassan, a sturdy young man with the police emblem on his necklace, says: “I don’t want to get askant looks, just because my parents are from Turkey”. After all, he passed the recruitment test, and wanted to become a police officer. He now needed to make accomplishments, just like everyone else.

Our previous translations
Berlin Police: “This is The Enemy In Our Own Ranks” (The event that started it all)
Police Leadership Knew Of Conditions At Academy
Berlin Police: Diversity – A Cautionary Tale (A 5 year old interview with the current Berlin Deputy Police Chief about her plans to remodel the police force, that we found in a gay magazine)
Video: Berlin Deputy Police Chief Announces Culture Shift for Police
Berlin’s Future Cops: Burglars, and Insolent As Sh** At Times
Berlin Police Leadership: Pushing Diversity, Neglecting Ordinary Officers

Berlin: Moroccan Driver Of Rental Car Speeds Across Sidewalk, Targeting Pedestrians

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An original translation from B.Z. Berlin:

Was it an Attack?
Car Dashes Across Sidewalk – State Security Investigating

The driver of the rental car has fled. Police have cordoned off the area. Photo: Spreepicture

10. November 2017, 11:49 PM CET
The driver of a rental car dashed across the sidewalk at Wilhelmsruher Damm in Reinickendorf [Berlin – translator]. He barely missed several pedestrians.

A group of people were standing on the sidewalk of Wilhelmsruher Damm yesterday [Friday] evening around 10 PM. Suddenly, a rental car was speeding directly towards them. People screamed, jumped out of the way and barely escaped uninjured.
The car then rammed a motor scooter. Then the driver stepped on the gas and disappeared. He was not caught at the time of going to press. But the pedestrians quick-witted memorized the license plate. Police is investigating it, according to Bild information, the driver allegedly is a Moroccan.

Was it an attempted attack? It is still unclear. But it is confirmed that State Security has taken over the investigations.

The scooter lies on the sidewalk, demolished. No one was injured. Photo: Spreepicture

 

Berlin: Syrian Rapes Pony On “Children’s Farm” in Public Park.

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An original translation from Berliner Morgenpost.

ZOOPHILIA CASE IN BERLIN
Man allegedly sexually assaulted pony in Görlitzer Park
A babysitter with a young child saw the scene, photographed the man and saw to his arrest
November 10., 2017
Sebastian Geisler

A young man allegedly sexually assaulted a pony of the “Children’s Farm” in Görlitzer Park. An employee of the institution confirms this to Berliner Morgenpost. The incident occurred on Friday of last week around 3 PM. Amanda F. (name changed by our editorial staff) described the incident to Berliner Morgenpost. “My babysitter took a walk with our son through Görlitzer Park. They had to witness the man sexually assaulting the pony.” Her babysitter told her about the incident, and also spoke to the so-called “park runners”. She did not want to comment on the incident. The scene was too traumatic.

The employee of the children’s farm tells Berliner Morgenpost that the babysitter quick-witted took a photo of the man as he was committing the deed, and immediately contacted employees of the children’s farm. They consulted the “park-runners” who are there to ensure safety in the Görlitzer Park*. The employee called the police. The young man realized that his deed did not go unnoticed, backed off of the animal, and disappeared in the park for the moment.

The man received a house ban and a police complaint

The “park runners” searched and found the man by the photo, and held him until the police arrived. Police then recorded the man’s personal particulars. “We banned him from the premises”, says the employee. “Should he return, we will report this. We have never had an incident like that before.” They filed charges at the police. The police confirmed the charges for violating the animals’ welfare law, and “causing public nuisance by sexual acts” against a 23-year-old native of Syria.

The children’s zoo is particularly popular with young children. They have two ponies, two donkeys, half a dozen sheep and goats, and ten chickens, ducks and rabbits each. “All around the year, we have such positive things happening here”, says the employee. “It is a pity that now, we are being associated with such an incident”.

The punishment for “causing a public nuisance” in Germany is, according to paragraph 183 a of the criminal code, imprisonment of up to a year, or a fine. Violating the animals’ protection law is punished with a prison sentence of up to three years, or a fine, if the animal was caused significant pain.

Translator’s note:
* “park runners”: after giving up all attempts to get the drug dealing in Görlitzer Park under control, the city of Berlin now employs Turkish and Arab street workers, who patrol the Görlitzer Park, to engage in dialogue on an equal footing with the 180-200 drug dealers (largely refugees from African countries) and encourage a friendlier atmosphere (Tagesspiegel: Auf Augenhöhe mit den Drogendealern).

Berlin Police Leadership: Pushing Diversity, Neglecting Ordinary Officers

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The stream of allegations is not ending. It appears as if, while Diversity was pushed onto the Berlin Police (see also this interview with the Deputy Police Chief here), the issues of the ordinary officers, policemen and firemen alike, were not so high on the list of priorities.

1. Video: Berlin Police get prescribed a “Culture Change”:

(H/T: Martin)

2. An original translation from Focus:
Grievances in Berlin Police Academy
The Long List of Allegations Against the Deputy Chief of the Berlin Police
By Joseph Hausner
November 03, 2017

The Deputy Police President of Berlin, Margarete Koppers, has come under fire. An instructor lamented in a voice recording what allegedly are fatal circumstances at the capital’s police academy, and spoke of hatred, refusal to learn, and violence, in a class with many police students with migration background.
Shortly thereafter, Focus released excerpts from an anonymous letter of a Land Office Of Criminal Investigations Detective to the police president of Berlin, in which he accuses Koppers of being too close to criminal arab clans. „She is legally represented by a lawyer who also represents an Arab clan“, the letter said, among others.
The experienced detective from Berlin warns of a subversion of the Berlin police by the clans. „Applicants of these clans are accepted at the police – even when they have a criminal record. Allegedly, findings about this are withheld by this very same Deputy President (and future Attorney General).“

Police President Klaus Kandt denies such allegations, speaks of „unfounded, defamatory, possibly even indictable remarks“ against him and Koppers. But the current reports are not the only cases for which the Deputy Police President has come under critics.

1. Gun Range Affair: Dead and sick police officers, because Koppers did not act?
As the ventilation did not work in many gun ranges, it appears that Berlin’s police officers were exposed to poisonous gunpowder fumes and minerals for years. Koppers allegedly learnt already in late 2011 when she was the provisional police president that a report warned of acute health risks from contaminated breathing air, and recommended closing the gun ranges. But for the longest time, nothing happened.
In the meantime, many shooting instructors and police officers have become ill, suffer breathing and lung conditions. Some of them have developed cancer. Five have died, Radio Berlin Brandenburg reported in March. First charges are laid, some doctors see a connection. Some of the victims blame Koppers personally. The police took up investigations against unknown, for suspect of inflicting bodily harm by professional negligence.

2. Manipulated credentials
„Tagesspiegel“ reports a case from 2012 and 2013, when Koppers already was provisional respectively Deputy Police President. A high-ranking position in the Land Office of Criminal Investigation was to be staffed. According to the report, Koppers changed the credentials of a head of division in hindsight, even though it already constituted a legally binding document at that point – to the negative. She downgraded several of his grades. At the same time, the grades of a different candidate, whom Koppers possibly preferred, were upgraded. The Federal Administrative court ruled that this was an unlawful manipulation of a proceeding for a high-ranking position. It were „not perceptible that Deputy President Koppers had sufficient knowledge“ about „the accomplishments“ of the officer, it said. The officer won a temporary ordinance against the staffing of the position. The court did not answer the question whether Koppers might have committed forging of documents.

3. Firemen duped of their afterhours?
End of July, Focus reported that Koppers’ authority might have duped the firemen of Berlin, for whom she is responsible, of paying their afterhours. They had been working up to 55 hours a week for years, even though only 48 hours were permissible. Koppers’ authority said in different procedures that the claims were partially lapsed, and that the firemen had been informed that the authority would assert lapse of time. This led to the demands of the firemen for 2001 until 2004 being rejected. But an employee information from 2008 shows that the firemen were promised exactly the opposite: „The authority will not assert lapse of time of claims“, it says.
The opposition in Berlin sees an initial suspicion of collusion in this contradiction. The interior administration did not want to comment on the allegations back then. In a statement it only said, one „stood with the fire brigade of Berlin unrestrictedly“.

4. Koppers is getting a new top position – but there are inconsistencies in the selection procedure
In November 2015, the position of Attorney General for Berlin was advertised. Koppers, who allegedly is close to the Greens, applied for the position. In the end, she was head to head with the jurist Susanne Hoffmann, who is close to the CDU. So the Justice Senator at the time, Thomas Heilmann of the CDU, convened a selection panel, staffed with, among others, conservative federal judges. Koppers remained absent from each single one of the selection interviews, took a sick leave.
Then in December 2016, after the elections for the house of representatives Berlin, the Green politician Dirk Behrendt replaced the former CDU Senator of Justice Heilmann. Behrendt decided to fully replace the selection panel. As soon as the new panel was appointed, Police President Koppers, who had been on a constant sick leave before, showed up to the interview for the first time. Just a few days later it was decided that Koppers will be the new General Attorney.

There was outrage in parts of the capital. The opposition of CDU and FDP railed at “Green Sleaze”. The defeated competitor – in contrast to Koppers an experienced prosecutor, even Deputy Chief Investigator in Brandenburg – pressed charges. But the District Court rejected the lawsuit at the first court. Now, Hoffmann wants to take the lawsuit to the Higher Administrative Court.

Gun Range Affair: as the General Attorney, Koppers would be chief of the investigations
The Green senator Behrendt is happy about the decision at the first court: „Berlin will get an intrepid and energetic General Attorney. She has already proven this in several positions“, he said.
The opposition views it differently. „Koppers is responsible for the desolate situation at the police“, says Marcel Luthe of the FDP Berliner to FOCUS Online. „And now she will move on, to damage the Prosecution next?“

The investigation against unknown for causing bodily harm by professional neglect, in the gun range affair, are ongoing. If Koppers indeed becomes General Attorney, she will soon be the boss of the investigations.

See also Berlin Police: This Is The Enemy In Our Own Ranks and Berlin: Police Leadership Knew of Conditions at Academy and Berlin Police: Diversity – A Cautionary Tale.

Berlin’s Future Cops: Burglars, and “Insolent as Sh*t” at times

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Berlin – Finally, there is reassurance in the Berlin Police Academy scandal, where a leaked voice message lamenting intolerable conditions due to a migrant student rate of 36% surfaced:

Excerpt from Bild Zeitung.

All of the allegations were unfounded, Detective Chief Superintendent Thomas Neuendorf points out (…) “Just because a police trainee is from a city-wide notorious clan doesn’t mean we will discriminate against him. We evaluate the individual case.” Small criminal offenses in the past, like theft or damage of property, were no reason not to be accepted. According to Academy Chief Jochen Sindberg, we shouldn’t forget that these are young people. “It is all too normal that some pupils will be insolent as sh** at times”

Now that is reassuring!
If you missed the scandal, see Berlin Police: This Is The Enemy In Our Own Ranks and Berlin: Police Leadership Knew of Conditions at Academy.

Berlin Police: Diversity – A Cautionary Tale.

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Meet the Vice Police Chief of Berlin, lawyer and former judge Margarete Koppers, who is responsible for turning the Berlin Police Academy Spandau into a hot mess by recruiting 36% migrant students (see This Is The Enemy In Our Own Ranks and Police Leadership Knew of Conditions At Academy).

We found this old interview in the gay city magazine “Siegessäule” from Berlin, and think it is pretty self explanatory. It is undated, but considering when Mrs. Koppers was appointed, we estimate it is from December 2012.

An original translation from Siegessäule Berlin (excerpts):

An Interview With Berlin’s Police Vice President
All Machos?
Margarete Koppers talks to Siegessäule about diversity, homophobia and her own coming-out

December 20 [no year given] – She almost became the Police President of Berlin. For one and a half years, Margarete Koppers led the Berlin police provisionally, then she applied for the position as chief. She is seen as an ambitious woman, calmly coordinating the office, and stepping forward against the Rambo image of the police. Late 2012, interior Senator Henkel finally appointed Klaus Kandt, an outsider, for the job, and Koppers remained vice president. Complaints about homophobia and transphobia fall into her responsibility, and she attends many community events. Siegessäule wanted to know what motivates Margarete Koppers and if her living in a lesbian partnership prevented her becoming chief.

Siegessäule: You champion diversity in the police Berlin. So what does that actually mean?
Margarete Koppers: Diversity means that all ethnic groups and all minorities that live in this city are represented in the police. And also, to give each minority the chance to participate in professional success.

What is the aim of the diversity-strategy?
The aim is that we develop different relations between each other within the office, but also outwards. The aim is not to focus on the repressive view, but to see ourselves, and to be seen as, part of society.

The aim should also be to avoid prejudiced investigations. When I look at the NSU murders, they didn’t investigate in this direction for a long time.
Exactly that is the learning curve. To accept people of different background, different religion, different sexual identities just as we accept the ‘majority society’, and that we don’t treat topics stereotypically.
(…)

Aren’t racism, sexism and homophobia a structural problem in our society? Why should that be different in the police Berlin?
You should define what you mean by structural. The way I understand it is that an authority has got structures that make such behaviour possible or even encourage and codify it. But our rules are exactly the opposite.

Is there training on these matters?
We have several modules in the training about this. From history lessons to attending events. We have just dedicated a memorial in front of the Berggruenmuseum. There used to be a police academy that became infamous during National Socialism. Additionally, we work together with NGOs like Maneo or the Federal Anti Discrimination Office, to address issues like racism and homophobia. There also are mandatory modules in further training, but the attendance depends on if the colleagues can get a release from duty.

Since last year, there is a dedicated contact for hate crimes and homophobic crimes in the Prosecution Berlin. Do gays and lesbians now increasingly turn to that contact?
I can only answer that question for the police contacts. We have good success with the gays, but it is more difficult with lesbians. My colleague who is responsible for that tells me that it is much more difficult to get the trust of women. There is a double obstacle, namely, as a woman, and a lesbian, to turn to the police, which is traditionally perceived as male-dominated and macho-like.

Can policemen and -women be openly gay and lesbian at the workplace?
I think that, depending on in which actual environment they work, there are prejudices. I know that many colleagues are open about their sexual identity, but I also know, and this also affects the leadership, that colleagues strictly differentiate between job and personal life. Secretiveness surely leads to more problems than openness.
(…)

What did you find tempting about the police authority? You used to be a judge, and then a research assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court. Then this change to a male club with esprit de corps and a strict hierarchy. Doesn’t sound all that attractive.
I have perceived the police differently in my career, because, as a criminal judge, I have always closely worked together with the police, and basically made positive experience. I didn’t think too much about the structures of the authority, I just knew it was a large authority with different challenges, closer to society. This, and the leading position, tempted me. I was surprised that the topic of women in leadership positions is still that acute, the media echo was enormous.

You applied for the position of the Police Chief of Berlin, unsuccessfully in the end. I guess the fact that you are a woman, and that you live in a lesbian partnership, did not exactly help, right?
You should ask the people who made the decision. I have my own thoughts about that, but I better keep them to myself.

What is your vision for the police Berlin?
It is important to me that we arrive in the middle of society, and that we do not isolate ourselves in our own structures, and that hierarchy won’t be that important anymore. I would like to see a citizen’s police after the dutch model.

Questions by Gudrun Fertig.

Translator’s note:
My issue here is: a police chief should be appointed their job because they would make a good police chief. Not because they wish to transform that authority into something else.

 

Sources tell us that Berlin is working on updating their emblem… 😉

And it should go without saying, but of course I have no grievances with a woman, or for that matter, a lesbian woman, being a police vice president. But no one should be appointed a job because they are a woman, or because they are a lesbian.