Patrol car in front of the police headquarters in Frankfurt
Image: dpa
Five Frankfurt police officers have been temporarily suspended because, among other things, they are said to have posted right-wing extremist content. Superiors knew about it, but apparently covered up the crimes.
AOnce again, Frankfurt police officers are suspected of having shared criminally relevant content in chat groups. As the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt and the Hessian State Criminal Police Office announced on Friday evening, apartments were searched by a total of five police officers. The authorities initially gave no information about the background. According to reports, they are officers of the investigation department. It is said to have been right-wing extremist content.
One of the police officers is being investigated on suspicion of using license plates from anti-constitutional organizations until 2018. Three other officials, who are said to be superiors, are accused of evading criminal prosecution in office. They knew about the distribution of the content, but did nothing about it or, according to the findings, even covered up the misconduct, as it is also said. A fifth official is accused of breaching official secrets. According to the public prosecutor’s office and the LKA, the search warrants are based on the results of investigations in chat groups of a messenger service. Several mobile phones were seized in the officers’ homes and offices.
The police officers were temporarily suspended. Further civil service and disciplinary measures are currently being examined by the Frankfurt Police Headquarters.
The Frankfurt police chief Stefan Müller gave a statement on Friday evening. He said the allegations and criminal investigations made him “very concerned”. It weighs particularly heavily “that according to the current state of knowledge, superiors are involved and did not live up to their special responsibility, but rather presumably abused their function in order to cover up or cover up misconduct. This behavior is completely unacceptable and counteracts everything that the Hessian police have built up in terms of a new leadership and error culture, especially in the past two years. It is also a slap in the face to all police officers who do their job in an exemplary and impeccable manner every day. The Frankfurt police headquarters cooperates closely with the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt am Main and the Hessian State Criminal Police Office and supports the investigations in every respect.”
