The German state of Lower Saxony is maintaining its current practice regarding the recording of suspects’ nationalities in police crime statistics, a stance that diverges from a proposal recently put forward by its neighboring state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens publicly criticized the suggestion from NRW’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul, who announced plans to record all nationalities held by a suspect possessing multiple passports.
Behrens expressed skepticism about the value of such a change, stating she sees “no benefit or added value for police work” in collecting this additional data. She also indicated her disagreement with the direction of the debate, firmly asserting that German citizenship should not be subject to gradation.
Currently and continuing forward in Lower Saxony, police crime statistics will record only one nationality per suspect, aligning with nationally agreed-upon standards. A spokesperson for Behrens emphasized that the comprehensive recording of multiple citizenships is of secondary importance from a criminological perspective.
The ministry argues that factors such as gender, age, education level, family situation, social environment, substance abuse and any connection to victims are more significant when analyzing crime statistics. While multiple citizenships – and citizenship in general – are not considered insignificant, they are deemed less relevant than these socio-demographic and circumstantial elements in understanding criminal patterns.
The initiative from NRW to factor multiple citizenships into crime statistics remains under consideration within that state, however, it has not yet been formally discussed at a national level within the Conference of Interior Ministers.