Chief of criminal investigators calls for immigration law checks after riots

The chairman of the Association of German Criminal Police Officers (BDK), Dirk Peglow, has backed Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) in the dispute over recent statements about “migrant chaotics” in the riots following the youth protests at the weekend. He also called for quick procedures and immigration law checks.

“We have to talk honestly about what happened in Frankfurt,” he told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (“RND”). "If you look at the pictures of the riots, you have to come to the conclusion that the rioters were mainly young men from a migrant background. Some of these groups are known to the police from what happened in the inner city. This must be able to be named. This is about specific groups of perpetrators, not people with a migrant background as a whole. The fact that many of those arrested have German citizenship does not change the classification of the milieu."

For New Year's Eve and other large events, the police must be prepared for the possibility that this violent clientele could appear again, Peglow added. "The rioters have shown with their behavior that they accept significant damage to shop owners and injuries to police officers. This is frightening and a significant additional burden for the police when they have to deal with upcoming operational situations."

In some cases, the consequences under immigration law would also have to be examined

The BDK boss further told the "RND": "I am confident that many suspects can be identified with the help of the video recordings and further investigations. The proceedings must then be carried out quickly and must not take years. If serious crimes are proven, there must be sanctions that are noticeable. In the case of non-German nationals, the consequences under immigration law must also be examined in each individual case. Expulsion is not automatically possible, but the legal options must be examined."