By Oliver Auster and Rachel More
DUSSELDORF – Five right-wing extremist chat groups have been discovered among members of police forces in western Germany, in what a member of the local government called a “disgrace”.
Twenty-nine police officers took part in the chats, all of whom have been suspended, Herbert Reul, interior minister in the state of North Rhine Westphalia, told reporters in Dusseldorf on Wednesday (16).
They are all facing disciplinary measures, he added. Fourteen of them are set to lose their jobs.
Reul addressed the issue in a press conference after raids were conducted against 14 police officers at 34 police departments and private properties in the cities of Duisburg, Essen, Moers, Muelheim and Oberhausen.
The state minister described the scandal as a “disgrace for the police.”
Some 126 pictures were shared in the groups, including images of Adolf Hitler and a doctored image of a refugee in a gas chamber. Police believe one of the groups was founded as early as 2013.
This is not the first case to raise concerns in Germany over right-wing extremism in the police.
In the central state of Hesse, investigators looking into a hate mail campaign against politicians and public figures stumbled upon a chat group used to exchange extremist content.
A similar group was also discovered in the southern state of Bavaria last year, in which hate speech targeting Muslims was shared.
In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the south-west, it emerged that seven police cadets were being investigated for exchanging right-wing extremist content in a private WhatsApp group.
In response to the latest case in North Rhine Westphalia, Reul announced that a special inquiry would be initiated for the police department of Essen, where 25 of the suspended officers work.
A special commissioner for rooting out right-wing extremist elements in the state police will also be hired.
Police think around half of the police officers in question have actively contributed to the chats by posting.
Reul confirmed that among the 29 policemen and policewomen are individuals with a migrant background.
Further cases of right-wing extremism are suspected, he told reporters, adding that mobile phones were seized during the raids which will be used to look for evidence of other chat participants.
The GdP police trade union condemned such radical behaviour within the police.
“Fighting right-wing extremism is in the DNA of the police,” said Michael Maatz, regional deputy chairman of the GdP.
-dpa