After the Magdeburg Christmas market attack, the German Police Union (GdP) is demanding a significant expansion of the powers for the security authorities. “We need to face the reality” said the chairman for the federal police, Andreas Roßkopf, to the “Rheinische Post” (Tuesday edition). “Crime has become more brutal and unpredictable.”
Roßkopf particularly criticized the continued lack of implementation of the new Federal Police Act. “We at the federal police are still working with a law from 1994, and the politics have not found a solution to modernize this law for over four years.”
Security authorities should finally get the legal possibilities that are “on par with the times”. This includes online searches, the source-based telecommunications surveillance for internet phone calls, facial recognition using AI software, and additional control powers. “All of this must be put to the test and re-regulated immediately” said Roßkopf.