From BZ/dpa
The Berlin police union (GdP) has raised the alarm about a lack of young people in the police and fire brigade.
“Blatant personnel problems in the police and fire brigade are endangering internal security,” emphasized the GdP on Wednesday.
More and more police officers are retiring, at the same time the number of applicants and appointments is falling and, in addition, many junior police officers and firefighters are dropping out of training prematurely.
Worrying development in Berlin
An analysis of the situation in recent years by the trainee representation of the State of Berlin shows the worrying development.
In 2019, 45 of the 1,224 training positions in the police force were not filled from the start. To date, only 879 young men and women from that year have completed their training. According to the GdP, up to 100 training positions remained vacant in the following years.
Police officers in training: 30% fail, quit or are fired
About 30 percent of the police officers in training have resigned themselves in recent years, failed the degrees or been dismissed.
The GdP demanded that the procedures for applications and recruitment should be much better for the police and fire brigade. It cannot be that the application process for the police alone takes half a year or eight months for the fire brigade.
The state’s trainee representation (HJAV) explained that some companies would present young people with an apprenticeship contract just 14 days after they applied, offer modern technology and score with flat hierarchies as well as attractive pay and working hours. The state of Berlin must face up to this competition and become more attractive as an employer.
The Berlin police are aware of the problem and have been campaigning for more and better young people for years.
In fact, many young men and women also apply, but many fail the procedure because they don’t pass the written tests or are not good enough in the sports test.