The Federal Police expects that the increased deployment of officers at the border could cause gaps in other tasks. As revealed in an internal directive from the Potsdam headquarters to the departments, quoted by the “Spiegel”, the “deployment of the mass of MKÜ forces” – referring to the officers in the Mobile Control and Surveillance Units – will henceforth take place at the border. Against other “emergency situations”, the MKÜs should only be deployed “in an undeniable extent”, the directive states. Additionally, planned “executive measures” – including raids with forces of the Federal Police – will still be carried out in the current week. “For the implementation of further executive measures, a new assessment of the operational and staffing situation should be carried out if necessary” the headquarters says.
The directive also mentions that the Federal Police is increasing “the number of deployed forces to the greatest extent possible.” The particularly affected Federal Reserve Police, with its standing units, is asked to “increase personnel support to the maximum extent possible.” However, it is limited to the fact that this state is “time-limited.” “The timely involvement of additional personnel in the measures” – mentioned in the note include the trainees of the Federal Police Academy in Lübeck – is deemed “necessary to ensure the sustainability of the measures.”
In addition to the switch to twelve-hour shifts, the departments are instructed to grant “restrictive leave” for personnel. The headquarters expects problems with accommodation for the additional forces at the border: “The call-up and deployment of the personnel only takes place when the necessary logistical framework conditions, in particular accommodation capacities, are given” the headquarters states.
It is possible that “alternative deployment scenarios” will be planned, in which Federal Police officers return home after their shift and return the next day.