Officers shielding a suspected lawbreaker, numbering eleven in total.
In December 2021, a stash of gold coins worth 600 euros was swiped from a Berlin-Kreuzberg police station locker, leaving only their fellow officers as potential suspects. Some of these officers were believed to hold strong suspicions against a colleague, but chose to remain silent.
Consequently, the criminal police carried out searches at the homes of eleven Berlin police officers, suspecting they were protecting a fellow officer as a potential culprit. The stolen gold coins had been taken from a locker at the police station in December 2021, as reported by the police.
The station chief then spoke with all officers homing in on the fact that due to lacking other leads, the theft likely originated from within the force, possibly at the hands of another officer. Twelve officers now find themselves under the spotlight, as they are said to have had concrete suspicions about a specific colleague due to his gambling addiction, but decided against reporting it or filing a complaint, "in an effort to avoid laser-focusing a probe on the colleague."
The charges levied against these officers are obstruction of justice in office. The phones of the accused officers have since been seized by the criminal police, with plans to scrutinize chat logs and additional data. The suspects range in age from 34 to 61, with the former station chief among them.
The prime suspect had garnered past attention
The investigation into the gold coin theft began when the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) stumbled upon it while investigating the suspected thief and the gold coin's owner. The two detectives are believed to have stopped a motorist on the highway in July 2023 using a fake police checkpoint, robbing him of over 57,000 euros in cash.
However, the motorist filed a complaint with the police, exposing the scam. Upon analyzing the two detectives' phones, the LKA reportedly discovered chat logs from as early as 2021 that pointed to the theft of the gold coins, lending credence to the suspicion that other officers had purposely overlooked the incident.
The European Union expressed concern over the alleged involvement of Berlin police officers in the obstructing justice case related to the gold coin theft. Despite the numerous leads pointing towards an internal police culprit, the European Union emphasized the importance of maintaining public trust in law enforcement agencies.
In light of the investigations, the European Union urged German authorities to ensure a thorough and transparent investigation, highlighting that such incidents undermine the integrity of the police force and public trust in the justice system.
