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Magdeburg (dpa / sa) - Police officers in Saxony-Anhalt have checked compliance with the corona measures for thousands of hours since the pandemic began.

Until shortly before Christmas, 260,000 hours of use for corona controls had been counted, said the head of the police union (GdP), Uwe Bachmann, of the German Press Agency, citing statistics from the Ministry of the Interior.

Above all, the riot police of the country and the forces of the Central Operations Service in the districts were used for this.

Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the burden for many colleagues has increased significantly, said Bachmann.

It is true that they had to move out much less often to secure demos, football matches and major events.

In return, however, the many additional hours of work for corona checks were incurred.

"The bottom line is that this is no relief, but at least the same level."

Police officers, like many other people, also have to try to get their job under one roof with childcare, home schooling and caring for older relatives, said the GdP country chief.

However, there is no avoiding the overtime for the police officers.

"The regulatory agencies can't do it alone," he said.

"We have to do it and that's what the police are ultimately for."

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Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff sees it similarly.

Similar to the employees in the hospitals, many law enforcement officers are currently working overtime because the country is in a serious crisis, said the CDU politician.

"If we could recruit a thousand more police officers to fill in the gaps, then we would."

The police and regulatory authorities have been checking since spring 2020 whether people adhere to the contact restrictions and whether shops remain closed.

In the Harz Mountains, they are also increasingly used on weekends to prevent large crowds in the popular toboggan and ski areas.

From Monday on, circles badly hit by the pandemic could also order that their citizens are only allowed to move within a radius of 15 kilometers from their home town.

According to Haseloff, the police should also check that.

The regional and nationwide patchwork of rules is difficult to see through, said the police unionist Bachmann.

Policewomen and policemen who are deployed in different circles must have the rules ready at all times.

Bachmann pleaded for the most uniform possible measures to be adopted in the fight against the pandemic.