In the service of people's safety

Interior Minister Herbert Reul
In the service of people's safety
The state has the task of ensuring internal security. The police are primarily responsible for this. However, they can only successfully shape internal security if they share responsibility with politicians, society and citizens. Interior Minister Herbert Reul, State Secretary Jürgen Mathies, Police Department Head Dr. Daniela Lesmeister and Police Inspector Michael Schemke are pursuing this goal.

This requires:

  • a social climate that makes everyone more aware of their responsibility for domestic peace and promotes it more strongly,
  • an efficient, motivated and well-equipped police force,
  • a policy that tackles the roots of crime and violence and actively involves not only the police and judiciary, but also school, family, social, economic and labour market policies.

The work of the NRW police is very diverse and is always the focus of public and media attention. Preventing dangers and dealing with major operational situations are police tasks on the water, in the air and on land. In addition, fighting crime and road traffic are two other very extensive areas of responsibility.

Willingness to use violence, a lack of social ties and unemployment are changing society, as is the rapid pace of technological development. The police as an organization are therefore faced with new conflict issues and greater demands on their social and communication skills. It is responding to these developments with well-trained and motivated personnel and modern technical equipment.

The Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia has set priorities for the work of the North Rhine-Westphalian police in the areas of consistently fighting crime, prevention and averting danger, victim protection and victim support.

To this end, 47 district police authorities are developing local concepts for local security. The results of citizen surveys, which supplement the police's tools for developing local security concepts, help here. The actual security needs can thus be determined and incorporated into police work. The police and local authorities also bring together the relevant authorities, associations, clubs and committed citizens in the cities and municipalities. Initiatives such as "public order partnerships for more safety in cities and municipalities" and "crime prevention councils" take this idea of cooperation into account.

 

Interviews
 
Herbert Reul, born in Langenfeld in 1952, has been Minister of the Interior in North Rhine-Westphalia since June 30, 2017.
For the new Head of Police Department 4 at the Ministry of the Interior, Gerrit Weber, the police must embody 5 x D - remain democratically resilient, assertive and service-oriented, as well as becoming more diverse and digital.
Michael Schemke has taken up his new post as Inspector of Police. Since then, he has been at the head of the approximately 30,000 uniformed police officers in the country.
Minister Herbert Reul: Peter Mosch will continue to digitize and modernize the North Rhine-Westphalian criminal investigation department!
Maria del Carmen Fernandez Mendez knows a thing or two about traffic on North Rhine-Westphalia's roads - from her own experience. She has been a traffic officer at the Ministry of the Interior since February, having previously held the post on a temporary basis for several months.
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In urgent cases: Police emergency number 110