Police and Bundeswehr for more security – Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann and Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer provide information on the leadership workshop and the first joint operational guide in Germany: Increased cooperation in life-threatening situations – large-scale exercise planned for 2023
The Bavarian Police and the German Armed Forces are strengthening their cooperation in life-threatening situations within the framework of civil-military cooperation. To this end, a leadership workshop was held today at the Bundeswehr Medical Academy in Munich with around 65 high-ranking leaders from all Bavarian Police Presidiums and Bundeswehr units from all over Germany. “The aim is to ensure that we can deploy the resources of the Bundeswehr in the best possible way to support the police in the event of terrorist attacks or other life-threatening operational situations,” explained Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann. “When the lives of numerous people are at stake, we must bundle all competences in our country.” Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer, Commander Territorial Command of the German Armed Forces, said, “Mutual understanding and practised procedures provide certainty of action in critical situations and only make quick reactions possible.” Herrmann announced that civil-military cooperation would be deepened in further joint exercises: “Planning is already underway for a major exercise in 2023.”
As the Minister of the Interior explained, today’s leadership workshop dealt in detail with the first joint nationwide ‘Guide to the Deployment of the Bundeswehr in the Management of Life-threatening Operations under Police Command’, which was developed by the Bavarian Police and the Bavarian State Command. According to Hermann, the guide, which is not intended for publication, deals on about 60 pages with, among other things, the joint rescue of injured persons and the operation of checkpoints with the help of forces and capabilities of the Bundeswehr. “This is to ensure that the Bavarian police and the Bundeswehr are prepared in the best possible way for corresponding scenarios.”
According to Herrmann, the deployment of the Bundeswehr in the interior is regulated by the Basic Law. In disaster-like situations, such as particularly serious accidents or damage events of great magnitude, the request of the Bundeswehr is possible, he said. “However, the Bavarian police remain responsible for internal security in Bavaria,” the Interior Minister emphasised. As he explained, four joint exercises between the Bavarian police and the Bundeswehr have already taken place. These were the ‘Joint Counter-Terrorism Exercise GETEX’ in Murnau in 2017, the ‘Bavarian Counter-Terrorism Exercise BAYTEX’ in Penzing in 2018, the ‘Lower Bavarian Counter-Terrorism Exercise NTEX’ in the district of Straubing-Bogen in 2020 and the ‘Joint Upper Franconian Counter-Terrorism Exercise GEOTEX’ in Hof in 2021.
The Minister of the Interior made it clear that in addition to regular joint exercises, an excellently positioned Bavarian police force is also very important. “In 2023, we will reach a new peak in the number of positions in the Bavarian Police with more than 45,000,” Herrmann said. “We are also taking a lot of money into our hands for the best possible equipment.” For example, the Bavarian Police now has 800 new medium-range weapons to complement the MP5 submachine gun in life-threatening situations. In addition, there is a new laser training system. “In addition, we have procured new service pistols and new ballistic protection equipment in recent years,” Herrmann added.
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