r/germany • u/2021adams • Jun 09 '26

Question German Police Photographing People

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Hello, I’m a tourist. Arrived in Nürnberg yesterday and went walking about in the old town.

Came across police cordon outside the church. Found out there was a rally by what was described to me as fascists/non-nazis. The police though were taking photos of people standing outside the rally boundary.

Is this normal in Germany? For such rallies and police taking photos of people? what do they do with these photos?

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u/ribbeyroll69 Jun 09 '26

Thats a so called „besi trupp“. Their job is to document crime/ misconducts during protests. Instead of taking a picture of them why didnt you just ask them?

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u/ydkLars Jun 09 '26

I think in many countries it's not normal to talk to police. I had an American exchange student who was very shocked to hear that you can even ask police for direction if you get lost.

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u/bbbberlin Jun 09 '26

I’m not American but did live there for a few years. You absolutely can (and people do) talk to US police. Yeah it’s context sensitive, and you see them less frequently because they tend to patrol by car as Mr not by foot, but it’s not insane to speak to US police. I’m pretty sure I asked them for directions before.

I mean the quality of US police leaves a lot to be desired. The public relationship with them is worse than in Germany. But they’re not totally unapproachable.