Across Germany, the announcement by North Rhine-Westphalia’s (NRW) Interior Minister Herbert Reul to begin recording second passports held by suspects is largely meeting with skepticism
A spokesperson for Hamburg’s Interior Authority told the “Rheinische Post” on Tuesday that the Hamburg police “fundamentally maintains the view that the recording of data for the national police crime statistics should be consistent across the country” The proposal will be subject to “professional examination to avoid double-counting and to ensure nationwide comparability
Berlin’s Senate Department for the Interior also expressed a cautious stance “In Berlin, detailed evaluations are carried out with a focus on investigating the causes of crime and solving offenses” a spokesperson stated
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens was even more direct, saying, “I simply don’t see what the added benefit or value for police work could be here” The Bavarian Interior Ministry, however, described it as an interesting approach “As soon as initial results are available from the proceedings in North Rhine-Westphalia, we will take a closer look at them” a spokesperson explained
From the Federal Interior Ministry, it was stated that NRW’s approach is “understandable and sensible” However, a corresponding implementation at the federal level appears unlikely “This requires a consensual decision among all federal states and the federal government, which has sometimes taken a considerable amount of time in the past with other criteria” a spokesperson said
The crime statistics in North Rhine-Westphalia will in future indicate multiple citizenships of suspects and victims The federal state is thus pursuing a unique course