The Police Union (GdP) has sharply criticized the attempts by the Interior Ministers of Brandenburg and Baden-Württemberg to recruit police officers from Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt following the state elections. According to GdP Federal Chairman Jochen Kopelke, who spoke to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” newspapers on Thursday, police staff “are not chess pieces of politics nor trophies in a competition among Interior Ministers.”
Kopelke stressed that public safety is not a “social media project for clicks and reach.” He complained that security agencies lose valuable personnel, emerging talent, and time while some politicians seek to generate public attention.
Last week, Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister, Manuel Hagel (CDU), publicly addressed police officers in the capital after the Left Party won in Berlin, inviting them to apply for positions in his state. Meanwhile, Brandenburg’s Interior Minister, Jan Redmann (CDU), used Instagram this week to appeal for police applicants from Berlin and Saxony, targeting those concerned about the future political direction of their home states.
While the Police Union strongly criticized these appeals, it simultaneously called for a smoother and reliably regulated process for police officers to move between federal states. Kopelke told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that the previous informal agreement among the Interior Ministers Conference-which sought to prevent state transfers-is clearly no longer working. He added that if police officers wish to leave their employer, politicians and authorities must take their reasons seriously.
