Saxony-Anhalt's police are to be equipped with body cameras nationwide.
These should “mainly be used in the daily work of the patrol officers.
Use in apartments and in the home environment is not planned," said Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU).
The cabinet wants to discuss the introduction for the first time this month.
From 2017 to 2020, police officers in Magdeburg, Halle and Dessau-Roßlau were already equipped with bodycams as part of a pilot project.
In particular, the Greens, who were still part of the state government at the time, viewed the project critically.
However, the black-red-yellow coalition that has been in power since September has agreed in the coalition agreement to introduce "operational documentation technology".
For this, the state parliament must change the law on public safety and order;
that could be completed by the end of the year.
How many body cameras are to be purchased is still open.
With the video cameras, police officers should be better protected against attacks during operations.
In addition, they may be able to provide material to clarify incidents.
The bodycam attached to the upper body permanently overwrites the recorded sequences without saving them.
Only when the officer activates the video function are the sequences of the last two minutes and the following events backed up retrospectively.
"Not always de-escalating"
Critics complain that the cameras have a provocative effect.
“We know from the test phase that bodycams cannot only have a de-escalating effect in every situation.
Some people feel provoked when the red light on the camera suddenly lights up.
This is where we will start with good training and further education,” announced Zieschang.
The governing factions support the project in principle.
"The bodycam can give both the officer and the police opposite security," said SPD domestic politician Rüdiger Erben.
The CDU sees it similarly.
"This is an effective way to prove that the police acted lawfully during the operation," said Rep. Chris Schulenburg.
But the Christian Democrats still have a dissent with the FDP.
The reason: In the coalition agreement, the bodycam states that the basic right to inviolability in the home should remain “untouched” – the cameras should therefore not be used in operations there due to fights or domestic violence.
"We don't approve of that," said Schulenburg.
The liberals see legal hurdles for such bodycam operations.
"We're sticking to what we negotiated," says parliamentary director Guido Kosmehl.
"We want to respect the principle of the inviolability of the home."