The Police Union (GdP) is demanding the establishment of a national police reserve to handle extreme emergencies ahead of the Interior Ministers Conference starting in Hamburg this Wednesday.
“If there is a large-scale power failure in Germany tomorrow, if critical infrastructure is attacked, or if multiple crises occur simultaneously, we simply do not have enough police officers everywhere to help at the same time,” stated Jochen Kopelke, the national chairman of the GdP, to “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”. He emphasized that security should not be left to chance, arguing that reliable reserves are urgently needed.
Kopelke confirmed that the GdP supports the Interior Ministers Conference’s plans for national reserves, particularly in scenarios such as blackouts or attacks on critical infrastructure. However, he issued a critical warning: “Technical reserves without people do not create security. Generators, emergency power, and spare parts are only helpful if there are enough security forces available to secure order, protect people, and coordinate aid.”
The union pointed out that police forces are already working beyond their limits, even as new risks emerge, including hybrid attacks, blackouts, extremism, and organized crime. Despite this, a strong national police reserve that could be deployed quickly and coordinated in a crisis is lacking. Kopelke added, “While the readiness forces of the states and the federal government are a flexible unit, their strength and flexibility are now severely limited, and these forces act not as a reserve, but as fillers for regional police problems.”
In Kopelke’s view, police officers are placed in a perilous position between chaos and stability during an emergency. He concluded by urging the government, “But we can only meet this responsibility if the state prepares us, equips us, and strengthens us with personnel.” He warned that failing to build these reserves today risks having help arrive too late tomorrow.
