Scandal in the German police: child pornography and Nazi symbols were found in chat rooms of five policemen

Prosecutors in northwest Germany are warning of a rise in radical ideas among young police officers. They found that during training, five officers from three different districts shared Nazi images and child pornography in group chats.

All of them have been suspended from work. Violations were established as a result of inspections in the North Rhine-Westphalia region. Chief Prosecutor Annette Milk, who is leading the investigation, explains that the suspects are between 22 and 25 years old, three from the police department in Recklinghausen, one each from the police departments in Kleve and Borken.

The chats were discovered during an investigation into a sixth suspect. The prosecutor’s office charged the former police officer with exchanging right-wing extremist symbols in chat rooms, as well as possessing and distributing child pornography. After graduating, he worked briefly at the police headquarters.

The homes of three police officers were searched. Friederike Zurhausen, chief of police at Recklinghausen, says:

“The accusations shocked me. In criminal law, the presumption of innocence still applies here. Nevertheless, the charges are so serious that after reviewing each specific case, I immediately banned these three employees from official activities.”

Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, described these employees as showing defects of character and morality that are unacceptable for uniformed officers:

“The distribution of materials of this kind raises serious doubts about the moral fitness of such a person. Therefore, the four announced bans on the conduct of official activities and their internal use are the correct consequence at the moment.”

Royle insists that younger police officers bear the same responsibility for their actions as older ones:

“Young civil servants, like older ones, must uphold justice, law and the values ​​of our constitution without a shadow of a doubt.”

German law prohibits public denial of the Holocaust and the dissemination of Nazi propaganda on the Internet and in public forums. The ban includes distributing swastika images, wearing SS uniforms, and speaking out in support of Hitler. The law sets strict rules that social media companies must moderate hate speech and report threats.

This is not the first time that the German police have faced such a scandal. According to the Ministry at the end of July, over the past 6 years, the police in North Rhine-Westphalia have uncovered 105 cases of right-wing extremist behavior, writes euronews.

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