Rights at the general police control
The question arises again and again as to what rights an individual has in the event of a general random police check. The first mistake is to believe that the police need a specific reason to check someone’s identity. This is basically not the case. A specific occasion is not always necessary. The police act in the two major areas of law enforcement, (repressive) but also averting danger, i.e. preventive. There are therefore situations in which the police can and will take preventive action. This is particularly the case in places where crimes (of significant importance) are committed more frequently. In terms of police law, one speaks here of so-called KBOs, places with a high level of crime (these are re-evaluated every year according to statistics and are publicly available, in Berlin, for example, there are currently 8 KBOs.) Here, the police may check all persons for identity without a specific reason, the person and search through the items / bags carried by the person, mind you without suspicion. Anyone who stays at a KBO (for example, only walks or lingers there, ie stays longer than approx. 15 minutes) knows about the importance of this place and has to accept this. Otherwise outside of these special locations, the police must always name a specific reason for a measure in accordance with the state police law (16 different in Germany). First of all, the police can determine the identity. This includes the full name, address, date and place of birth. All other questions that are not inconvenient should only be answered briefly, as these are recorded in the protocol and police report. If there is any uncertainty here, it is advisable to politely point out to the officials in the situation that no further statement is currently being made, but that a lawyer will contact you and represent the person legally. After all, once unhappy statements that are harmful to the person or stressful are made to the police, they can hardly or almost no longer be corrected later by the lawyer.
English Version:
Your rights when being stopped by the police
Frequently the question arises what rights an individual has in the event of a general random police check. The first misconception is that it is believed that the police needs a specific reason to check someone’s identity. This is basically not the case. A specific occasion is not always necessary. The police act exists in the two major areas of law enforcement, (repressive) but also averting danger, i.e. preventive. Therefore you might face situations in which the police can and will take preventive action. This is particularly the case in places where crimes (of significant importance) are committed more frequently. In terms of police law, one speaks here of so-called KBOs, places with a high level of crime (these are re-evaluated every year according to statistics and are publicly available, in Berlin, for example, there are currently 8 KBOs.) Here, the police may check all persons for identity without a specific reason, search the person´s body and search through the belongings / bags carried by the person without concrete suspicion. Anyone who stays at a KBO (for example only walks or lingers there, i.e. stays longer than approx. 15 minutes) knows about the importance of this place and has to accept it. Otherwise outside of these special locations, the police must always name a specific reason for a measure in accordance with the state police law (16 different police law codes in Germany). First of all, the police can determine the identity. This includes the full name, address, date and place of birth. All other questions that are not inconvenient should only be answered briefly, as these are recorded in the protocol and police report. If there is any uncertainty here, it is advisable to politely point out to the officials in the situation that no further statements and information will be given at the moment but that a lawyer will contact afterwards and represent the person legally. After all, once unhappy statements that are harmful or incriminating to the person have been made to the police, they can hardly or almost no longer be corrected later by the lawyer.
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