The German police: issues in the unification process

Investigates how effective the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has been in reaching the goal to inculcate the police in the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) with the West’s value system of policing, that is, “citizen friendly” police. Research methods utilized in this examination included a review of the literature, both interviews and correspondence with officials of the FRG(federal and state), and the content analysis of the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel. The scope of this study was limited to civilian policing, federal and state within the territory of the former GDR. Suggests that it will probably take a considerable amount of time to achieve the goal of citizen‐friendly police in the East, given the turbulence (economic, political, social, etc.) of the past several years. This goal can only be achieved when both police practice and citizen perception are in sync.