In Dortmund, Dortmund's Chief of Police Gregor Lange initiated the establishment of the special commission "Right" back in February 2015, a clear and unmistakable declaration of war on right-wing extremism in our city. Knowledge and investigative expertise about the right-wing scene is pooled in the Soko "Rechts", and right-wing extremists are investigated on a perpetrator basis, analogous to an intensive offender concept. The Soko "Rechts" works very closely with other security authorities, collects and analyzes information and tips, all with one goal: to bring right-wing extremist criminals to justice and in this way send clear signals of deterrence to the extremist scene. And the Dortmund Police Headquarters' Soko has been very successful in this area so far:
More than 100 convictions have been obtained since 2015, more than 35 years in prison and over 60,000 euros in fines have been handed down by the courts as a result of investigations by the Soko "Rechts".
Leading neo-Nazi cadres are currently in prison, a reason for a noticeable weakening of the right-wing extremist scene in our city. The clearly noticeable repression by the police, as well as the ever-present presence of police forces, have led to a considerable decline in right-wing extremist-related crimes since 2015.
But that is not enough (from the police's point of view): whenever right-wing extremists register an assembly in Dortmund, they are met by experts in the field of assembly law from the Dortmund police, who scrutinize assembly registrations from this group particularly critically. The result: assembly law restrictions with almost 40 pages on the restriction of right-wing extremist demonstrations, numerous administrative court proceedings on demonstration locations, slogans, etc., a significantly decreasing pull effect of Nazi gatherings with fewer and fewer participants.
In the recent past, right-wing extremists from other cities, federal states and other European countries have also had to acknowledge that the Dortmund police do not allow intimidation of people living in Dortmund, do not tolerate incitement against migrants and refugees and certainly do not tolerate anti-Semitic hatred on Dortmund's streets. It is understandable that right-wing extremists are increasingly giving our city a wide berth. That's a good thing!
Luckily, the Dortmund police are not alone in their fight against right-wing extremism: Dortmund is united with an overwhelming majority of its population in the fight against this inhumane ideology. Many network partners from the center of society stand by the police and the democratic elections in our city make it clear time and again: Nazis do not reach the people in our city, they do not succeed in connecting with the population in Dortmund. That's a good thing!
Despite all the successes, there is only one conclusion for Dortmund's police chief: "The state must not let up in the fight against right-wing extremism. The attacks in Halle and Hanau and the fatal attack on the district president of Kassel have shown how dangerous right-wing extremism is in Germany."
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The Dortmund police will continue to do everything in their power to combat right-wing extremist activities with all available means.
