From Surveyor to Servant: The Democratisation of the Police (With Reference to the Brandenburg Police, Germany)

Conclusion - The Future Outlook for the Force in Brandenburg

Having seen some of the problems and issues facing the police in Brandenburg since the Wende, it is worth examining how the police is facing the current state of affairs and how things are likely to develop in the near and distant future in the organization and work of the police. There are mixed feelings on all sides on how things have developed since 1989. In the eyes of many, things could have been done differently when setting up the Brandenburg police: others feel that certain elements must still be changed in order to create an efficient crime-fighting force, but such opinions are as varied as they are in all other parts of society on other issues and it would be difficult or indeed foolish to believe that things will soon be running without hitches in a perfect system. Debate and differences of opinion may slow down the process of change in Brandenburg and indeed in all the new Länder, but they are important in democratic society and in this respect must be welcomed.

The future for the police in Potsdam and the Land Brandenburg will certainly be a challenging time. The changes in the police are still incomplete and there is above all still a great lack of trained personnel. However, difficulties for the police arise because of external conditions in society and the management of these conditions is the task of politicians and not of the police. The PDS-LL believes that this is indeed the case and admits that a solution to current problems must be tackled by society at large: a very difficult task. The faction does not believe in an elementary expansion of the police force, since this only puts pressure on problems and does not really solve them.

In 1999, the Länder Brandenburg and Berlin intend to merge, creating one Land. The decision was taken by government commissions of both Länder on the 5th December 1992. Referenda on the decision to unite both Länder are not due to take place before 1994, on account of possible current biases concerning the social situation. The majority of police seem to see this step as a positive one. Those in Brandenburg hope that the new Land will be called either Brandenburg or Brandenburg-Berlin, but not Berlin-Brandenburg, since Berlin already has the status of capital city and will in any case need its own police force. A possible fear held by the Brandenburg officers is the possibility of "Besserwessis" obtaining high-ranking positions in the Brandenburg police, although this has not been the case up until now, thanks to special regulations concerning the occupation of key positions in the force by its own officers. The fusion of both Länder seems overall a positive move, but there will be difficulties which will need to be tackled. The GdP in Brandenburg has already moved its offices from Potsdam to Berlin.

In the Brandenburg police, the two things needed most urgently are more personnel and better technology. There is only one communication channel for the police in Potsdam at the moment, with three thousand users. The fact that in a Polizeiwache in half an hour, only four out of eighty five messages on the wavelength concerned that particular Polizeiwache demonstrates the impracticality and possible danger of this.

The police structure in Brandenburg and in Potsdam has proven itself and needs only to develop more in the process of time. There may be some faults in the system, but the basic structure and foundation created in 1990 seem to have held their ground. The police as an organization must tackle any problems which may occur in itself in the future. It is the politicians who must deal with social problems on a wider basis. A general problem likely to figure heavily in German society in the immediate future is the 'Ossi' and 'Wessi' issue. The mere fact that these terms exist can only be destructive to a feeling of unity in the newly reunified Germany and this 'divide' is likely to continue for some years before finally becoming merely a further part of Germany's history.

The task for the individual police officer must be to try to convince the public that "es ist nicht nur die Polizei, die mich bestraft, sondern ist einfach die Polizei, die man auch für mich hat." The public, in its turn, must not expect miracles to happen overnight. The great changes which have taken place cannot be expected to have taken place without certain teething problems. The notion that all aspects of society in the new Bundesländer, including the standard of internal security, could assume the same levels as those in their neighbouring Länder to the west in a matter of three years is a foolish one, although it must be said (in a non-patronising manner) that incredible progress is being made. The attainment of equal standards may take ten or perhaps twenty years, but it will come eventually. In this respect, there is room for cautious optimism. On the llth June 1992 at the Konferenz für Innere Sicherheit in Berlin, State Secretary Dr. Werner Ruckriegel summed up the situation with the following words:-

"Wir gehen - was die innere Sicherheit anbelangt -nicht ohne Sorge in die Zukunft, aber auch nicht ohne Vorsorge, nicht ohne Konzepte - und nicht ohne Zuversicht, daß wir die Probleme, die wir haben und die wir noch bekommen, bewältigen werden."

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