Seventy-two Berlin police officers no longer want to serve in the capital after the Left's election victory. Since election day on 20 September, they have inquired in other federal states about a transfer or have already filed an application. Interest is strongest in Baden-Württemberg, where a Focus online survey found that 58 Berlin officers had expressed a wish to move. Ten are interested in Bavaria, three in Thuringia and one in Bremen.
Baden-Württemberg interior minister Manuel Hagel, 38, of the CDU, publicly invited the officers to transfer after the election. By comparison, the Berlin police said 36 officers moved to other federal states in 2024 and 22 did so in 2025.
The Berlin branch of the police union GdP views the development with concern. Spokesman Benjamin Jendro, 37, told Focus online that if this happened every year, Berlin would lose the personnel of an entire police section within two years. According to the GdP, young officers are also resigning from service in the capital and then applying in other federal states. Jendro said that was threatening over the long term.
The Left's Berlin election programme calls for less money for the police and fewer powers. Where possible, police work is to be replaced or supplemented by social work. Weapon-ban zones and further police instruments are to be abolished.
Jendro said that since the election there has been great concern in the Berlin police about how the city will continue, alongside the working conditions. Despite what he described as the highest operational burden in Germany, pay for the Berlin police remains extremely low. Hagel was blunter, saying the Berlin police was too valuable for a left-wing clan mayor who wants to take away its resources and powers.