Rainer Wendt: “These Are Perfect Parallel Societies, With Their Own Jurisdiction”

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Rainer Wendt is the chairman of the German Police Trade Union (DPoIG). His forthright common-sense remarks always make for an engaging television interview.

Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:


Video link

Video transcript:

00:00   Over 700 parliamentary members sit back and watch as the government makes decisions without asking the parliament.
00:07   Laws are whittled down, not even applied or almost annulled without asking legislators.
00:15   Even worse, they don’t even want to be asked.
00:19   So no matter what the police do, in some political circles, it is always wrong.
00:22   Assuming that in many areas, for example in cases of criminal assault,
00:27   for example in sexual offenses, we only know a fraction of the actual crimes committed,
00:35   then one must place a large question mark behind the assertion that Germany has become safer.
00:40   Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Our interview partner today is Rainer Wendt, the chairman of German police union.
00:48   A warm welcome to you Mr. Wendt. —Thank you. —I had a look at your career and you have been Chairman of the Police Union
00:54   since 2007. Which means approximately the same length of time in office as Angela Merkel. Otherwise they do not have so much
00:59   in common with the chancellor. —No, not so much in common. The number of members of the German Police Union has gone up.
01:06   It has almost doubled. Angela Merkel’s CDU membership has almost been reduced by half. That make us different already.
01:11   Yes, just a tiny difference. If you reflect on this time span or recall what you have observed since 2007, these last 12 years,
01:18   what changes have occurred to the daily police work routine during this time? You are in daily contact with dozens,
01:26   if not hundreds of agile and active colleagues. You represent them. So what do they tell you? What has been the most significant
01:33   change during this time period? —The police force, it is said, is the most political of all administrations.
01:38   That means it receives the brunt of sociopolitical changes. My colleagues feel the changes in a literal sense.
01:48   Violence against police officers has always existed. During my active duty, I received a scrape or two and an occasional bruise.
01:56   At that time, however it was a different kind of violence. It was the well-known offenders. Intoxicated individuals who were
02:04   unruly and need to be restrained. Today in German society a structured form of violence has become mainstream.
02:11   That means that we don’t have just certain individuals or criminal groups that are identifiable. We now have everything from
02:17   the leftist student to the university professor or medical director. Violence has arrived in mainstream society.
02:22   The government has lost a lot of respect and authority. —As a police officer do you have an explanation for this?
02:29   My explanation is that the government has withdrawn from too many areas of the public service infrastructure.
02:35   The government said that either the market will regulate it or people should buy it. So all of a sudden the government
02:41   is no longer involved. Just take a look at different areas of the public service infrastructure; most people still expect
02:48   the government to be involved, but it isn’t. Instead there are just some companies operating. A classic example is
02:54   elderly care and medical care. I think it’s bad that in our welfare state these areas are expected to have double-digit returns.
03:04   The government didn’t get involved at all, which I think is disastrous. Of course, along with the personnel reductions
03:11   everywhere, not just by the police force, the government lost even more visibility and then lost authority.
03:17   We’ll come back to that in a moment. I’d like to mention something very recent, exciting, and interesting
03:24   here at the beginning of the interview which is that you have written a book. It should be out mid-April or
03:29   around that time. The title is, “Germany Unhinged” by Rainer Wendt. In our preliminary discussion you
03:36   mentioned that this book isn’t meant to make Germany look bad or to say Germany is bad place.
03:40   Instead you examine the topic of the elite and the rule of law. Perhaps you can try to sum up
03:47   your book in 2 or 3 sentences. —Yes, first of all, this really isn’t an attempt to badmouth our country.
03:52   We have a great country. It is more about taking a peek at the future and asking ourselves the question:
03:58   “How are future generations, our descendants, going to look back on our current decisions?”
04:04   One of my theories is that they’ll be pretty angry at us if we squander our current prosperity, freedoms,
04:12   and our democratic rights. One example is the deterioration of public buildings. There are many schools
04:21   where we didn’t keep up. Another question is how we deal with the rule of law and democracy.
04:26   How can a parliament simply tolerate so many things or allow items to simply slip through?
04:32   Over 700 parliamentary members sit back and watch as the government makes decisions without asking the parliament.
04:40   Laws are whittled down, not even applied or almost annulled without asking legislators.
04:48   Even worse, they don’t even want to be asked. I think that is disastrous.
04:52   So summarised in two words: bad politics. —Bad politics and unfortunately lots of it. —Yes, well that brings us to
04:59   one of the bigger topic concerning our country: Domestic security. Specifically, the policy failure from 2015
05:08   gives us all the feeling or at least many Germans have the feeling that domestic security has worsened.
05:13   The notion that this is a result of immigration is shared on social media and is prevalent. Are there other reasons?
05:21   There are many other reasons. The migration, most of the migration since 2015, of course, has had an accelerating effect,
05:30   but it existed before as well. It goes back to the ’90s, when in Germany and many other countries made
05:39   a colossal historical error. Namely, believing that, peace, social justice and prosperity were breaking out everywhere
05:49   in the world, and that only democratic constitutional states would be founded everywhere. The idea was that
05:54   governments were no longer needed. No need for stationary border controls anymore. Somehow everything will just
06:00   magically be clarified on the external borders like nation states do. Interior countries were happy that they were surrounded
06:07   by European friends. However, a lot has already changed. Unfortunately. —Would you say in general that the domestic
06:16   security is on the retreat? —Yes, certainly, because domestic security is much more than just the absence of crime.
06:23   Inner security, for example, is the feeling of security. If people, especially elderly people, don’t dare to go out on the streets
06:30   after the onset of darkness or when women don’t want to go to big events or go in public because they are afraid of being harassed.
06:37   Or if people are afraid to use public transport. There is no crime if they don’t go, but it is a collective loss of freedom.
06:47   A loss of freedom is also a loss of security. —What you have just described is happening more frequently,
06:53   and recently perhaps provoked some to even call for strengthening the rule of law. What would you suggest to restore it?
07:03   Is the solution more police training? Is it a question of staff? With that I mean more personnel.
07:09   Could it have something to do with existing laws? The court system? Or just policy in general?
07:16   I’m really glad that politics in general is discovering the meaning of a strong government.
07:22   We have campaigns now in several cities, calling for a strong government.
07:27   When I wrote that in my other book two years ago, I was accused of being a right-wing populist,
07:32   marginalized and everything else. However, I’m pleased with the results so far. Most, not all political parties
07:40   have understood that the government needs to be strengthened. That doesn’t mean turning into an authoritarian state,
07:46   just so there are no misunderstanding. A strong government sufficiently protects its people.
07:52   Incidentally, a strong government also protects its borders. It has to, that’s obvious. Protecting borders is an essential part
08:00   of statehood. A strong government is there for its people where it is needed. That means older people, sick people,
08:10   grade school students and university students. It must create strong government institutions and government agencies
08:19   with employees, not only with the police force, but in prisons, in the penal system and the public prosecutors’ office.
08:28   They are responsible for the necessary sanction mechanisms and already provide for the necessary prevention.
08:34   A strong state also means strengthening the family. Well equipped day-care centers and schools so that crime doesn’t have
08:41   a chance to arise. —Key phrase: Border protection. We’re a long way off from having that at the moment.
08:47   Yes. This is a major political failure resulting from the Europe-drunkenness of the ’90s.
08:57   At that time it was decided we no longer needed security controls at national borders. Without question this was also
09:05   a great freedom, but at the time people were promised that it wouldn’t affect security. They were told that Europe’s
09:13   external borders would be protected and at the national borders so-called compensatory measures would apply.
09:24   That means there is a sufficient police presence with the latest technology patrolling the area which was supposed to
09:30   compensate for the lack of stationary border controls which had functioned as a filter.
09:34   So the promise made to the people was broken. Both promises. Neither are protected. Neither the European Union’s
09:41   external borders nor the internal national borders with a reasonable compensatory measure.
09:47   Horst Seehofer just presented a broad package of reforms and we expressly welcome his suggestions.
09:51   He intends to create the necessary compensatory measures. This is necessary because the measures to protect
09:56   the EU’s external border are going to take a very long time. —Horst Seehofer also presented his balance sheet for
10:01   2018 a week ago, and he appeared relatively satisfied. Do you share his satisfaction? —Well, I’m very skeptical.
10:09   I don’t begrudge him that, but I don’t share his satisfaction. The so-called police crime statistics don’t
10:15   represent crime in Germany, but only the number of crimes that have been processed by the police.
10:22   Assuming that in many areas, for example in cases of criminal assault, for example in sexual offenses,
10:30   we only know a fraction of the actual crimes committed, then one must place a large question mark at the end
10:37   of the assertion that Germany has become safer. We view this with scepticism, but otherwise
10:45   we believe Horst Seehofer has presented many good plans to make Germany really safer. For example, at the border.
10:51   You have been very diplomatic by using the phrase “been brought to the attention of”. Social media has made the
10:57   accusation that crimes were deliberately not registered per order or so to speak on command. What do you make of it?
11:06   No, there’s so much nonsense posted. A police officer who is aware of a criminal offense will report it otherwise
11:11   he makes himself punishable. Risking his job and criminal prosecution by prosecutors office.
11:15   They don’t play around and that’s a good thing. —We have spoken at length about domestic security, politics and
11:23   the perception of domestic security from people in this country. I am really interested to know what the police think.
11:31   You speak with them. What are the biggest topics, just one or two that concern the police officers?
11:38   What do they deal with on a daily basis on the job? —Well, it’s not only policemen, but also policewomen.
11:44   I say that for the sake of inclusiveness otherwise my female officers will scold me and they’d be right to do so.
11:51   They also want recognition and they feel exactly the same way. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction
11:57   that has accumulated over the years and decades especially when it comes to lack of personnel or lack of equipment.
12:02   Specifically concerning the lack of political backing, following the two New Year’s Eve incidents:
12:08   The first one where everything went wrong and the police were to blame for everything afterward.
12:17   Then the second one in which the police were well prepared with sufficient forces but afterward were reproached
12:25   for being too martial and accused of racial profiling. So no matter what the police do,
12:31   in some political circles, it is always wrong. —Yes. We’ve covered the perspective of the police force, but I would like
12:38   to ask you something personal. When you browse the media and search for the name Rainer Wendt, terms pop up like
12:45   “talk show troublemaker”. I also saw somewhere “reactionary tirade”, I think that was in the TAZ. Someone wrote something
12:53   about “polarising statements”. Does it bother you when the media characterises you like that? You are a person who
12:59   expresses himself very openly, which is also refreshing. —That doesn’t bother me at all. The media are allowed to do that.
13:06   I’m an absolute friend of a broad media freedom and if journalists see it that way they are allowed to write it.
13:14   They should always be able to write it. I’m glad that we have a free press, even if we don’t like everything
13:20   that appears there, it doesn’t have to. I’m just glad that the media is allowed to write freely.
13:26   You were very present in the media for a while and quoted very often. Actually, you could be seen every day somewhere
13:34   in the media jungle, but in recent months that hasn’t be the case. Is there a special reason? —You’d have to ask the media.
13:42   So, it wasn’t something you decided? —No, no. I have the impression on certain talk shows, after a certain time,
13:51   a face becomes over-exposed. At the moment, we have the Kevin Kühnerts of the world that are more in demand and want to
13:59   explain to us how the world works best. So I have my doubts that these people possess the necessary expertise and life experience.
14:07   We are in the age of Kevin Kühnert (wants to reboot DDR 2.0) and Greta (Swedish Climate Change Alarmist Teenager).
14:12   All these people who now want tell us how the world works. —Just before you mentioned we shouldn’t forget the policewomen.
14:19   Three and a half years ago exactly a policewoman released a noteworthy book. Tania Kambouri’s “Germany in the Blue Light”.
14:27   She very poignantly described what a police officer’s or policewoman’s day to day routine on the job looks like.
14:34   Has anything changed during three and a half years since she wrote this book? Or is that time span too short
14:40   in order to say anything? —No, it’s not too short. It has gotten worse. That I can say with certainty.
14:46   What Tania Kambouri describes is her personal experience about being disrespected and loss of authority. She also describes
14:54   a certain group of people which have come to Germany that are particularly noticeable: Young male migrants. It must be said.
15:03   Those in the Turkish-Arabic milieu, that have recently become more demonstrative. In the news we are hearing more frequently
15:12   about Turkish weddings. There has always been the occasional Turkish wedding convoy with a lot of honking and blocking
15:22   intersections. Now they are blocking entire sections of the highway and that is a demonstration of power. This demonstration sends us
15:29   the message: “Up yours, you can’t do a thing about it and we do what we want here!” It has gotten worse and my colleagues
15:37   come in contact with it every single day. —How do you, as a policeman, deal with something like that? —First of all, it requires
15:44   self-protection and having a presence everywhere. A colleague of mine in Berlin told me recently that they go to places
15:53   where most have already fled. He’s absolutely correct. We go everywhere, even in the so-called no-go areas.
15:59   These areas are off-limits to certain sections of the population, but not for the police. Increased attention must be paid to
16:05   self-protection and creating an environment for it. It is an important managerial task to assist in reasonably
16:11   working through stressful experiences after they occur. That is one of the reasons why we, as the German Police Union,
16:16   have a foundation, so that struggling colleagues can take a break. —For which you also donate proceeds from your book.
16:24   A portion of the income. One half goes to the foundation to the other half go to help victims of traffic accident in Germany.
16:31   My book shares professional knowledge and experience that I have accumulated as Union leader,
16:36   so I don’t need to earn money with it. —We spoke about domestic security, the public perception about it and what the police force
16:43   is experiencing on a daily basis. I’m really interested to hear how police officers are viewed in this country by citizens in light
16:50   of recent developments with the lack of government support to a certain extent and disrespected by criminals — put mildly.
17:01   It seems that many people have doubts or reservations, because they perceive an increased lack of security, but since presenting
17:11   the latest statistics, the police force appears less-favored. Is that an accurate description? —No, I don’t think so.
17:19   First of all, it must be said that the police profession is not just an important but really a great job. It is a meaningful and
17:26   fulfilling occupation for many years. It also gives you the opportunity to help people in difficult situations. It isn’t just about
17:36   criminals. First and foremost are the victims who are spoken of very little. So with good reason, this profession is still the
17:44   highest ranked among young people and seen as a dream job. However, it can become a nightmare for some
17:50   over the course of their career if they get caught in dire straits. In order to change that we have trade union activities
18:00   along with the necessary leadership. Once again, it is a great profession. I will gladly make an endorsement to our listeners.
18:08   If you have sons, daughters, nieces and nephews that are good then let them apply for a good job somewhere.
18:17   However, if they are excellent they should apply to join our police force because they are urgently needed.
18:21   That is a clear message which will certainly reach the target audience. A catch phrase has been making its way
18:27   through the media recently which is related to our topics and conversation is “The Pact for the Constitutional state”.
18:34   The federal government and states have agreed to create a total of 15,000 new jobs by 2021. Further measures to be taken
18:43   are, for example, creating 2,000 more positions in the judicial and prosecutorial bodies.
18:49   Do you believe these measures are sufficient? Will that bring significant change or is that too little?
18:54   So this is first of all very positive development. Especially at the federal level we are experiencing a significant
19:02   increase in staff. This year the first fully trained federal police officers will strengthen the field which is urgently needed
19:11   everywhere. At airports, train stations, for border controls and on foreign assignments. The federal police has indeed suffered
19:21   badly the past few years, as well as the National Security agency, Domestic Intelligence agency and others.
19:26   All are being significantly strengthened with more personnel and it was urgently needed. We expect, by the way, we spoke with
19:32   Horst Seehofer last week and all agree that this strengthening trend will have to continue.
19:40   Especially in the German states, staff was drastically reduced. Heavily populated states, for instance like here in
19:45   North Rhine-Westphalia, which is actively hiring, has sworn in 2300 police officers a few days ago. The same in Bavaria,
19:51   in Baden Württemberg and in other states too, but unfortunately states such as Thuringia that are still on the path of reduction.
19:58   That means they are still reducing staff which is devastating and completely counterproductive.
20:04   In other words, these additional 15,000 new staff members will only replace a part of the number of officers that will retire
20:14   in the near future. So we need more of then 15,000 new hires. To put it in a nutshell, we need 50,000 in the long term.
20:22   Wow. I have found a quote from you from the beginning of 2017. You warned about “Police Free Zones” in Germany.
20:32   The topic hasn’t disappeared and perhaps has become even more urgent. Keyword: Criminal Clans. Lately, a lot has been done.
20:40   If I see it correctly, in Berlin and in North Rhine-Westphalia, there appears to be an effort to show the public that the government
20:46   is taking action. Is that enough? And how in the world do we get the criminal clans under control?
20:51   It is done for the public and to put pressure on the clans and on these parallel societies.
21:00   It is about time to tackle this issue after ignoring for the past 30 to 40 years.
21:07   This phenomenon, contrary to popular opinion, didn’t arrive with the mass migration of 2015. It has been here since the ’80s.
21:16   Since then people have been immigrating here and building these parallel societies. Many German politicians made
21:24   the historical misjudgment of believing that if we were very generous with the German citizenship then that would take care of
21:30   integration somehow. The truth is a completely different one. These are perfect parallel societies, with their own jurisdiction
21:38   and with their own rules. If you come to Neukölln, you will see that they even have their own traffic regulations.
21:43   To conclude, I don’t have a question, but a request. If you sat down now and would write open letter to the politicians,
21:50   to the political caste in Berlin. What would it look like? What would you ask, demand or recommend?
21:57   I would demand they think further into the future, and concentrate on the important issues. Instead of ordering flying taxis,
22:04   they should equip local schools. I would recommend doing the most important things first. One of these important things is
22:12   insuring a pleasant living environment, and another really important thing is securing education opportunities for our children.
22:20   What I’ve seen in our schools is unacceptable. While some politicians blabber about artificial intelligence,
22:27   I just wish for more healthy common sense. Specifically, that means toilets that work and that our children can use in schools.
22:32   It means the plaster isn’t chipping off the walls and no one has to freeze in winter. That would be nice, and I don’t think
22:37   that is too much to ask in a country in which we should have cathedral-like buildings for education. Instead the only
22:46   cathedral-like buildings I see are for government and business consulting. That’s not enough for me.
22:51   Clear statements from the chairman of German Police Union. You told me before the interview that you are running
22:58   for a fourth term. That’s another five years? —Yes, probably next year during the federal congress in Berlin. I will run for another
23:04   five year term and I’m really looking forward to it. —I wish you luck! Thank you very much for this talk. —Thank you.
 

4 thoughts on “Rainer Wendt: “These Are Perfect Parallel Societies, With Their Own Jurisdiction””

    • Yes, Mr. Wendt is very much part of the system. He is attempting to return it to its track, to the status quo ante, before the migration madness took hold. A strong state, efficient police, a compliant populace, and prosperity — the Bundesrepublik as it was before ca. 1980.

      Because of his opposition to migration, I assume he is not fully a globalist. Mass migration is one of the Five Pillars of globalist dogma.

      • very much so.But as I have stated some time ago, Mr. Wendt has common sense, however he presided the smallest police union which is opposed to the DPG, a more social- democrat inclined union. So it is A police union, not THE.
        And I am not nitpicking here.

  2. He is just the kind of forward-looking politician Germany needs. Perhaps, someday Rainer Wendt will learn the word “Islam” but it hasn’t happened yet. But his solutions include more socialized education, and more government-guaranteed jobs. With government jobs, the government takes money away from productive businesses, and creates make-work jobs that the “workers” may or may not show up for.

    Rainer Wendt talks about the “criminal gangs” creating no-go zones, but we still apparently don’t know much about these “criminal gangs”.

    He is the “go-to” person for the individual policeman, pressured by the administration to adhere to politically correct doctrine.

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