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Alarming overtime: Bremen police call for relief!
The Bremen police are facing enormous challenges with over 300,000 overtime hours and a fivefold increase in demonstrations since 2016.
Alarming overtime: Bremen police call for relief!
The situation at the Bremen police is tense. A fresh report from butenunbinnen.de shows that over 300,000 hours of overtime have been accumulated. A huge number that is spread across the approximately 2,400 officers in the Bremen police force. It's not just people in Bremer who are affected, their colleagues in Bremerhaven are also struggling with around 40,000 hours of overtime.
The steady increase in stakes is alarming. Since 2016, the number of rallies, demos and sporting events in Bremen has increased fivefold. Particularly challenging for the officers: in the first six months of 2025 there were already 600 police-accompanied events. This affects the Bremen police hard, as the police union (GdP) notes. “The overload is noticeable in all areas,” explains Nils Winter from the GdP. One could speak of a record load.
Union reaction
The GdP is therefore urgently calling for relief for police employees. Not only does it demand at least 500 additional positions for the police in Bremen and Bremerhaven, but it also warns of health consequences for officers. According to the District newspaper draws the union's attention to the catastrophic working conditions. Poor equipment and unreasonable conditions place additional strain on officials.
The planned increase in weekly working hours by one hour is particularly worrying. “This doesn’t help anyone,” said the critical voice of the GdP, who made it clear: the numbers speak for themselves. In 2024 there were more than 1,000 missions - this clearly shows the fivefold increase in gatherings since 2016, when there were only 215 missions.
The view of politics
Interior Senator Ulrich Mäurer from the SPD is aware of the challenges. He emphasizes the importance of the right to demonstrate, but also recognizes that the police are overloaded. “There is a great responsibility that the police bear and we have to deal with it better,” explains Mäurer, based on facts presented in an article by taz.de are listed.
The Bremen police are not only experiencing a constant increase in operations, but also a supra-regional problem. Nationwide, there are reports of an overworked police force with high levels of overtime, averaging 85 hours of overtime per officer. That sounds like a constant work-related strain and raises the question of how long the civil servants can withstand this pressure.
The situation is clear and requires rapid improvement. While the GdP is struggling for relief, it remains to be seen how those responsible will react and whether the necessary changes will occur.