Complaints office against police violence decided

2023-07-06 19:55:00

It will be set up as a separate organizational unit in the Federal Office for the Prevention and Combat of Corruption, which is part of the Interior Ministry, and will be given comprehensive police powers. SPÖ and NEOS doubted independence given the proximity to the interior department, while the FPÖ feared defamation of the officials.Vienna. In addition to an interdisciplinary composition of the investigative body, a specialized training of the officials is planned. To ensure that tasks are performed in accordance with the law, an independent advisory board that is not subject to instructions is to be set up at the Ministry of the Interior. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) was satisfied: “I think that something good has happened in the interests of everyone.” His party colleague Wolfgang Gerstl spoke of the police officers’ right not to be suspected in advance. With this in mind, the bodycams were introduced. The complaints office is now the next step.

SPÖ and NEOS did not see it that way. Representatives of both factions were not convinced that the position, according to the government bill, is located outside the “classic hierarchy of the security executive”. The ÖVP is in charge of the interior department and operates “systematic post corruption”, argued Stephanie Krisper (NEOS). Sabine Schatz (SPÖ) also called for an independent body.

On the other hand, FPÖ mandatary and police staff representative Werner Herbert saw the project as an expression of the renewed contempt for the police officers. He feared a “new defamation and change agency” and objected to the involvement of NGO representatives who placed the police under general suspicion. Positive, however, the expectation of the green Georg Bürstmayr. “No one has to go to the police to complain about a police attack anymore,” he said.

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