All this in just 15 yrs after 9/11…….
German police not equipped for Paris-style attack: union leader
Policemen patrol on March 25, 2016 in front of the main station in Giessen, Germany |
Boris Roessler/AFP via Getty Images
Ernst Walter: ‘I can only pray that no terrorist with a Kalashnikov will ever come through one of those border crossings.’
By JANOSCH DELCKER 4/12/16, 7:42 PM CET Updated 4/15/16, 6:13 AM CET
BERLIN – Germany’s Federal Police, who patrol borders, airports and railway stations, are ill-equipped to respond to a Paris- or Brussels-style attack or hinder terrorists from entering the country, according to their union leader.
“We are short-staffed, and our policemen on the ground don’t have the equipment to deal with this sort of terrorism we are observing,” federal police union leader Ernst Walter told POLITICO. “This puts both our officers and the population at great risk.”
In the wake of the November 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 bombings in Brussels, Walter demanded better protection for police officers patrolling on foot and by car, including bulletproof vests and armouring some of their vehicles.
“In every patrol car, there should be two titanium helmets, certain bulletproof vests, and our officers should have access to bulletproof cars if they are sent to set up terrorism checkpoints at the border, for example,” Walter said in an interview.
However, one expert cautioned that police patrols that look like military units could have an adverse effect on the public.
“It doesn’t make sense to try to fight terrorism by arming foot police with weaponry of war,” said Rafael Behr, a criminologist at the Hamburg Police Academy. “It’s ineffective — and it’s the wrong signal to the population. Militarizing policemen on patrol will only create more fear of a potential terrorist attack.”
Merkel WAS talking about disarming them completely. If you throw down your weapons, they will too. –Bernie
Sadly they need to bring back the ‘Volkspoliezi’ ,the communist era ‘people’s police’, and turn them loose on the invaders.
In Australia we arrest, charge, and then lock them up. Zero tolerance.
On what planet is Rafael Behr living? Heavily armed police are surely more likely to reassure citizens that the government takes their security seriously.