The Union of Police (GdP) has urged the preservation of the separation between the police and intelligence services in light of planned reforms to intelligence operations.
While GdP chairman Jochen Kopelke generally welcomes the reform, he emphasized that threats such as espionage, cyberattacks, and the use of drones over critical infrastructure are no longer future scenarios but current realities. He pointed to the drone incident at Leipzig Airport as a stark reminder of Germany’s vulnerability. Kopelke stressed that to effectively protect the country, security agencies must be fully equipped-legally, technically, and in terms of personnel. However, he firmly stated the precondition: security must only exist within the framework of the rule of law. For the GdP, the constitutional mandate to separate the police and intelligence agencies must therefore remain inviolable.
The Federal Cabinet plans to adopt the comprehensive amendments to the laws governing the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) this Wednesday. These changes would allow the two intelligence agencies not only to observe but also to take active measures, some of which are currently reserved for the police.
In a statement regarding the draft legislation, the GdP declared that the “historically developed and legally mandated separation” must neither be diluted nor gradually relativized. However, the union also stressed that this separation must not be perceived as an obstacle preventing effective cooperation and the lawful exchange of information. Instead, the focus must be on intelligently complementing the respective capabilities of security agencies and establishing cooperation based on clear legal foundations.
