Thuringia is arguing about planned changes to the police duties law

Modern police work or George Orwell sends his regards? Hardly any other legislative proposal is currently as polarizing in Thuringia as the state government's plans to change police powers. While the government coalition is pushing for a quick decision on a new law on police duties, the left continues to reject many of the requests for changes. Can the project still be saved? An overview:

What is the Police Duties Act and why is it so important?

The Thuringian Police Tasks Act regulates the powers and tasks of the police. This regulates, for example, when the police can take someone into custody, when they can search someone and also under what conditions police officers have to turn on the body cameras that some of them wear on duty in order to record what is happening.

Why does this law need to be changed?

The last major reform of this law was several years ago. A lot has changed now. There have been decisions in the jurisprudence that actually need to be anchored in this law. In addition, a lot has happened technically. Drones and artificial intelligence, for example, were not an issue when the law was last comprehensively changed.

Where is the problem in implementing the reform?

The Thuringian Interior Ministry's proposed change is controversial. He is now being discussed in the state parliament and receives a lot of support, especially from the CDU parliamentary group. “The new police duties law must equip our police in a legally secure and up-to-date manner,” says the Union’s domestic policy spokesman, Jonas Urbach. The proposed changes would help to better protect victims of sexual violence and better monitor terrorist threats. It is also important to allow police officers to use Tasers as part of the planned changes.

However, representatives of other parties consider the planned changes to be far too far-reaching. The left-wing domestic politician Ronald Hande speaks of a “surveillance law” that the Interior Ministry presented under the leadership of the SPD politician Georg Maier. The AfD parliamentary group also rejects the draft law.

What criticism is there in detail about the proposed changes?

Hande and representatives of an alliance called “Stop ThürPAG” fear that the planned amendment will excessively restrict basic rights at the expense of the police’s rights to intervene. For example, under the pretext of wanting to better protect people from domestic violence, the Interior Minister is planning to introduce powers for police officers that could also be directed against climate activists, football fans or politically active people.

The Left has done a lot to modernize the police, said Hande. “But modernization must not mean that people who have done nothing wrong themselves become the subject of extensive surveillance measures.”

What does the state data protection officer say about the plans?

Tino Melzer makes it very clear: “The question of proportionality arises very strongly,” says the state commissioner for data protection and freedom of information. There is certainly no way around the topic of modern police work. In his opinion, the draft sometimes oversteps the mark. “The basic starting point here is a very technologically oriented law,” says the lawyer.

Example: The draft states that the police can take pictures of people to avert danger. This would be conceivable on the Anger in Erfurt, for example, which is classified as a dangerous place and where video surveillance has already been installed. The draft also stipulates that these recordings can be evaluated automatically.

In addition, under certain conditions, the police should be able to biometrically compare biometric data on faces and voices with publicly available personal data from the Internet using an automated data processing application.

Melzer warns of a “chilling effect”, i.e. a kind of unwanted deterrent effect that causes people to adapt and not want to stand out. “If people are afraid that these images will be found in public spaces or somewhere on the Internet, then they will also adapt their behavior,” he explains.

What happens next with the draft for a new law on police duties?

This is not conclusively clear. “From our point of view, adopting it this year is realistic and remains our clear goal,” says Urbach. All parliamentary groups in the state parliament should have an interest in ensuring that the state police can work on a legally secure and modern basis.

The left, on the other hand, consider this to be unrealistic. “The PAG draft presented cannot be cured with a few corrections,” says Hande. The comprehensive criticism of the draft law cannot be about “trying to force it through the state parliament within the remaining three months of the year”. Maier himself had said in the past that he wanted the new law to come into force on January 1, 2027. “But it could take a few days longer,” he said.

Why is the left's stance on the draft law important?

Because the government coalition made up of the CDU, SPD and the ex-BSW MPs, who now appear under the name Thüringen.Gerecht, does not have its own majority in the state parliament. Since the coalition has ruled out cooperation with the AfD parliamentary group, the alliance needs the left to be able to pass this - or another - law.