Author(s):
Andreas Regler

Institution:
Präsidium der Bayerischen Bereitschaftspolizei

Title:
A Labelling Obligation for Riot Police in Hesse

Abstract:
In recent years more and more German states have established an obligation for their formed police units to wear number tags. The aim is to facilitate identification of individual police officers. This regulation especially applies to the riot police, which are policing demonstrations and football matches. Whereas some political parties (e.g. Left Party, Green Party) have always been staunch supporters of this idea, other parties (e.g. Christian Democratic Union) and Police Unions have rejected this approach on principle. In Hesse, however, a coalition government between the Conservatives and the Green Party has established a labelling obligation for the Hesse public order support forces recently. Using the multiple streams approach, this paper shows that only a coincidence of events enabled the Green Party, the junior partner of this coalition government, to have this obligation implemented. Some conclusions for the future of identifying number tags in Germany can be drawn from this.

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