German Police vs American Police Culture Shocks! 🇩🇪
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- After moving to Germany and living in Germany, it didn't take long to realize just how different German and American police forces are. Because of those differences between Germany vs USA, there have been a few culture shock moments when we've looked closer into what makes the police here and there so different. For Americans in Germany, how do we perceive these differences? Find out in today's video! 😊
German Police vs American Police (Part 1 video) - • German Police vs Ameri...
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00:00 - Intro
1:20 - Difference 1
4:52 - Difference 2
6:53 - Difference 3
11:09 - Difference 4
15:42 - Bloopers
Hope you guys enjoyed this video! Be sure to also check out the first video on German vs American Police 🇩🇪👉 ua-cam.com/video/g4SS3uUZt6g/v-deo.html
Well, and for several years I've been thinking about how to address our children's dear former playmates (and still good friends) should I meet them in their "official function" (uniform). I only know the first names of some of them ;)
Still missing the biggest difference between German and US police. The length of education. Police school in the USA is between 12 and 42 weeks (on average 20weeks) and German police officers go to police school at least 2.5 years, many study for 3 years at a police college.
The short time of school is one thing even some US politician do not like especially because the main class in the short time isn't law and conflict management - it's weapon training and self defense.
Saw a lot of US Police Bodycam videos ... Crazy things going on there ..
"YES/NO SIR" ???
You'll never see the police eating, because they have strict rules where to eat.
The informal address thing is completely overblown. If you're not a native speaker, you obviously weren't intentionally insulting anybody. You'd never get in trouble for accidentally using the wrong version. Also, there isn't actually a special law against insulting police officers. This is just the regular law against insulting people in general and the result of us having "freedom of opinion", not "freedom of speech" (insults are not an opinion), since our article 1 of the constitution is "human dignity is untouchable". So if you heavily insult a normal person (especially in public), you can get exactly the same fines or even prison time. Though maybe you have a higher than normal chance of this actually being enforced if you insult an officer.
At this times officers are even glad not to be spat on.
Came here to say this - if your intent is clearly not to insult but you are just clueless - that is not an insult.
fun(?) fact, the only official that has its own law that prohibits insulting them and has increased punishment is the President of the federal republic.
all other people are just people regarding the law against insults.
There is one difference: if you insult an employee of the government, not only can they decide the insult merits suing, so can their boss.
Just a few days ago, I witnessed a scene in Neukölln, a part of Berlin with a very high percentage of immigrants from Turkey, and recently even more immigrants from Arabic speaking countries. Three policemen and one policewoman were standing around a young Turkish guy with a flashy motorbike, just off the district's main shopping road (Karl-Marx-Straße). I don't know what this was about, but the Turkish guy was quite agitated and was addressing specifically the only female officer, saying repeatedly: "Ich red nicht mit DIR!" ("I am not talking to YOU!")
This guy seemed fully fluent in the Berlin variant of the form of German spoken by many descendants of immigrants from Turkey (similar to Ebonics in many ways), which uses the informal form of address for everyone. However, as he no doubt grew up in Berlin and went to school here, I am sure he knew exactly what he was doing. I assume he chose to use "Du" instead of "Sie" primarily because for him it's a way of annoying the cops while enjoying plausible deniability that this was his intent. If the same guy were planning to marry a woman with no immigration background, he would no doubt be able to initially address his future in-laws with "Sie" as expected with no issues other than the occasional slip-up. I am sure he didn't get in trouble for his use of "Du". His singling out the only woman, on the other hand, may have had a specific reason I just don't know, but it's likely to have been motivated at least in part by misogyny. In which case he probably didn't get in trouble for that FORMALLY, but the cops, although possibly being just as misogynistic among themselves, may well have closed ranks in response and retaliated in some form or other (probably not involving any violence and definitely not involving guns or tasers).
Insulting of a Polizice officer is not specificaly forbidden. In Germany insulting is not included in freedom of speech. Your freedom of speech ends whem it comes to insulting another Person. The Person your insulting can actually sue you for doing that. You get in trouble for insulting a police officer not because he is a officer but because is a person. (Sorry if i didnt wrote everything correctly and if it the text is difficult to understand)
I was looking through the replies for this. There is no law against insulting police (Beamtenbeleidigung isn't a thing though many Germans think it is). There is a law against insulting people though and police usually are people.
@@nichfra well, there's a *slight* difference. According to § 185 StGB (criminal law), insult [1] can only be punished if the insulted person wants so. With a few exceptions, one of them: *if* the insult was committed against a public official, a soldier or someone with speical public service obligation *and* this person was doing their duty *while* being insulted - *then* the head of the authority may also ask for the person to be prosecuted.
So if you insult a policewoman *while* she's controlling you (and had the right to do so), then she *or* her boss may ask for prosecution.
[1] ("Beleidigung" can be translated in many ways, perhaps there are better translations)
The colour coding for lights is actually quite consistent in Germany. Blue lights mean 'make way' (Police, ambulance etc)
Orange lights mean 'be careful' (Construction crews, tow trucks. Regular cars and school busses use hazard lights)
Red lights mean 'stop' (not just traffic lights but also rear lights)
And green, of course, means 'go'.
Quite satisfying, I think.
There are 3 colors on traffic lights: green: go, red:stop, and yellow: go fast and furious. 😃
@@clemenshampel You clearly forgot "dunkelgelb" 😂
@@kpanic23 oder kirschgrün/cherrygreen bei uns 😅
Oder Verkehrsrot (RAL 3020), Feuerrot (RAL 3000), Leuchtrot (RAL 3024), Leuchthellrot (RAL 3026). Wir Deutschen mit unseren Normen bei der Feuerwehr 😂
There are no school buses in Germany.
You can criticise as much as you want, you just can't insult in Germany.
That is because of Article 1 of the German constitution: "Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority."
So you do not have the freedom to insult anyone, you do have the freedom to not be insulted by people.
"Du" is like calling someone by their christian name instead of officer soandso or Sir or however you are expected to adress a US policeperson.
perfectly right!
The constitution are rules for how the government has to treat the citizens. It's not about how one citizen treats another one. Yes, there are other laws for that and they are somewhat based on the constitution. But you can't sue someone over the constitution (only government insitutions)
@@robertroberto7659 as you said - the laws are based on the constitution.
@@robertroberto7659 Technically, the Grundgesetz isn't a constitution. As Germany was devided after WW2, the BRD ("west Germany") didn't want to set up a constitution as a consitution also always specifies a nation's borders. Since the BRD did not control the DDR's ("east Germany") territory, they did not want to exclude the Soviet occupation zone. In fact, the Grundgesetz had a preamble that roughly stated that it was the duty of all Germans too seek unification. This was changed when the DDR was absorbed into the BRD in 1990. Originally, the provisional Grundgesetz was supposed to be replaced by a new constitution. By this time, the Grundgesetz had become an internationally copied template for modern constitutional documents and thus more than 80% of both BRD and DDR citizens voted to keep the Grundgesetz. That technically makes Germany the only country without a constitution.
See: www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/german-basic-law-the-key-facts
In Hungarian we also have the exact equivalent of Du and Sie. Nobody in his right mind would use the familiar form with any official (policemen, customs officers, etc) and the officials would not use it with you either. BUT nobody gets upset if a foreigner uses the familiar form, people are rather happy if the foreigner speaking broken or heavily accented Hungarian uses the language irrespective of a polite or familiar form. About 40 years ago a passport officer used the familiar form with me and I was so shocked visibly that she burst out laughing. It turned out that we went to the same school and she recognised me.
Fun fact: In contrast to what most people believe in english people actually never use the informal form. "You" is the formal version and it is not even the equivalent to the german Sie, it is the equivalent to the german Ihr (also known as pluralis majestatis which was used in centuries past to adress people above the own social standing - a commoner would adress a noble like that). The informal form in English is actually "Thou", however that word has disappeared from modern day english. Nowadays Thou can only be found occasionally in poetry and of course in old texts from centuries past.
@@HH-hd7nd I agree. I can not believe how many native English speakers told me that "you" is the familiar form. In Shakespeare's time, there was a strong distinction between the two forms, which is very obvious in his works.
Hungarian is such an interesting language, but I heard it is quite hard to learn, would you say that is true?
@@junimondify I had to learn Russian in school in the late 50s and 60s and studied German and English "voluntarily". Later I learned a bit of French too. All these languages are far more similar to each other than any to Hungarian. There is about a 30% overlap in vocabulary between French and English, also between German and English. The grammar of Russian, English, French and German looks similar to me, especially if I compare it to Hungarian grammar. On the other hand, we had a lot of foreign students at the university, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Czech, Arab, etc, and all of them had to learn Hungarian. They had one year of intensive language course, 8 hours a day and after that, their Hungarian was good enough to attend and understand lectures in Hungarian. I have also met foreigners who managed to learn Hungarian as adults and in two cases they spoke it accent free and to my shame, with better grammar than I do (I spent more than 30 years working outside Hungary).
On my first trip to Russia, with just a few words I knew, I essentially said something like "Hi, my buddy!" to the costums officer, who did not seem to mind. Much later, some Russian friends were mortified to hear what I said, and were amazed I got away with it.
And yeah, pretty much the same will be the case in Germany if you clearly just don't know the language well, and are not trying to intentionally insult someone.
110 / 112. You are right. But if you mix it up, the organisation you called will connect you via direct line with the other guys. And that will be just a few seconds.
Genau 😊
Ty so much for explaining the emergency Service numbers on a wider scale ❤ 😊
Additionally, if you use the correct number, the other service will be sent as well, depending on what the emergency is.
IE if you report a fire to 112, the police will show up, too.
Since somewhat last year, 911 works everywhere in Germany, no matter if mobile or line, forwarding you to the 112.
Wasn’t made public, but it definitely technically works - in just that case of a foreign dialing what they are used to in a possible stat of hurry or panic.
The responder for 110 and 112 is often the same person, for example in a „Regionalleitstelle”. Coordinating the police and fire departments aswell as ambulances and regional organisations like the DRK or DLRG. It’s a pretty cool place to see with the big pc screens.
You won't get in trouble for using "Du" in your case. No judge in Germany would decide against you, when you're a native English speaker, that doesn't naturally differentiate between a formal and a non-formal "you". Even if they would somehow find your UA-cam channel and could prove, that you knew about it in the first place. Maybe you were nervous or stressed and forgot about it in this specific situation. You would win this case - I would bet on it.
"You can say you to me!" 😁
And if you are otherwise complient and a police officer notices that you are a native english speaker, he or she will most likely switch to English anyway....
Technically he could get in trouble, if the court sees it as sufficiently proven that he used "Du" specifically to insult the police officer, but no non-native speaker should fear that they might get into trouble by accident.
@@StAngerNo1 You really, really have to try hard for that to happen. And then it's more a whole complex then just the pronom that causes the issue.
It isnt forbidden you say 'du' to a police officer anymore, Az. (412 Ds) 2 Ju Js 186/08 (74/08) Jug, 412 Ds 74/08 Jug). Wer einen Polzisten duzt, begeht keine Beleidigung.
So it is totally fine to say 'du' to a police officer
In a Nutshell: 'Du' for your "Dude(s)", 'Sie' for someone you would adress with "Sir"
Edit: Dad
What´s important to know is that police officers in Germany aren´t protected by special rights regarding insults (Beamtenbeleidigung / insult of civil servants) rather that you can generally sue someone for insulting you. It´s just that the police or other civil servants know the law and are more inclined to use it. The only one that is further protected against insults is the Bundespräsident (President of Germany), though that law is used seldomly.
One major difference is the education for the job: in the US - as far as I know - you have only a six months police academy before you are a cop. In Germany the education takes three years. And secondly: it seems that in the US you have to be an ordinary policeman before you can climb up the ranks to become a sergeant, lieutenant, detective etc. In Germany in some states you can get an education to get you immediately in higher ranks (gehobener Dienst).
According to one article I read sometime since 2020, the average training a police officer in the USA gets is 12 or 16 WEEKS! Some get only a day or week crash course, others get several months. But the average is a lot less than half a year.
@@jennyh4025 yep. Especially in rural areas training in the US is short and rather shite, to put it mildly.
@@jennyh4025 wow .. that is about as long as basic training in the military.
on the other hand .. according to the series the rookie .. police officers are then on probation for one year and ride along with a Training Officer, have tests and daily paperwork.
which I would count as on the job training or the actual education. Which makes the education in America 18 Month .. still half than Germany.
@@achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233 the time yes, but in Germany (and many other countries) those years of training also include de-escalation tactics, psychology, law, self-defense and use of non-lethal force. On the job training (as a third person with an experienced team) is of course also included in Germany. Shooting is actually the smallest part of the training as far as I know.
Edited/added:
In the USA police training is pretty much shooting and the laws they have to know. In many police areas (I forgot the correct term) that’s actually all they have to learn.
And if you combine that with a „you‘re exempt from the law when you are on the job“-law and you get some pretty messed up stuff and staff….
@@jennyh4025 thats because shooting is easy, even in the Bundeswehr shooting was the smallest part of the education.
A little story about the first part of the Video:
I'm a police commissioner and when I first started working as a police officer, we used to visit the fire brigade control center on the night shift, which was only a stone's throw away from my police station.
We got along well with the firefighters and had also driven one or the other operation together.
So we were sitting next to the fire department control center officer, making small talk and drinking coffee, when an emergency call came in.
An excited woman's voice declared, "I think there's a burglar in my house. Please come and help me!"
Response from the fire brigade colleague:
"Is the burglar on fire or why are you calling the fire brigade?!"
I laughed the whole way until I got to the lady's house.
To the last part of the video: "Du or Sie".
I know this is not an easy subject.
Normally you address someone by their first name and "Du" or by their last name and "Sie".
But there are other forms that drive people who speak foreign languages to despair.
As an an example:
Up until the tenth grade, we were addressed at school by our first names and with "Du".
With the change to the upper level at the grammar school (11th - 13th school class) we were faced with the decision by all our teachers whether we wanted to be "named" from now on. There have even been cases where teachers we've had for years also offered us the "du" using their first names.
So the "Du" was changed to "Sie" if you wanted to, but you were still addressed by your first name.
This often happens during training with the apprentices. It is an intermediate step from adolescence to young adulthood.
But 99.8% of the time it won't be a problem if you say "du" to the police officers as a person who speaks a different language.
There is hardly a colleague who is wired in such a way that he makes this a problem.
As police officers, we have to put up with completely different things and forms of address.
If you bump into me, it could just be that I address you as "Du" as well, in order to adapt to the situation.
Eigentlich ist es mir schnurzenspiep, wie man mich anspricht, aber bei "Herr X" im Alltag glaube ich mich mit meinem längst verstorbenen Vater verwechselt, und auf Ämtern von Beamten geduzt zu werden, das liegt mir auch nicht. -
Würd mich schon interessieren, warum Polizei seit einigen Jahren statt grüner Polizeiuniform wieder schwarze SS-Uniform trägt wie zu ihrer übelsten Zeit. Soll ihr Anblick Todesangst erzeugen?
Also, only recently police cars in Germany became blue.
Hamburg was the first state which changed the color from the old FRG (BRD) green to blue in 2001. The EU demanded this change. Bavaria was the most stubborn state (as usual) and only changed the color in 2016. The old green police cars were commonly referred to as "minzgrün" (mint green).
I sometimes still see green police cars in Munich though they are rare nowadays.
I know them as "Grüne Minna", never heard "minzgrün" für police cars.
Only recently ... 2001 is 22 years back ..
@@franhunne8929 True, but it doesn't feel that long to me because I saw those green cars throughout my school years and am "only" at university right now.
Not to forget the "hunter greens" = moss green/beige uniforms;)
By the way, we only changed our uniforms and police car colors back to dark blue** (except for Bavaria, where they were green before)
** In 1972 the uniform color change to moss green/beige was decided because the uniforms in the individual federal states had different colors. However, a blue tone was mostly used.
Little technical background for emergency calls on mobile phones: It's a special case. Usually, when you dial a number, your phone instructs the cell network to put you through to that number. But if your phone detects that you're trying to place an emergency call, by dialling *any* of the emergency numbers, it simply tells the network: This is an emergency call. So the cell tower will direct your call to the closest emergency service call center. Interpreting the emergency number is a functionality of the phone, not of the cell network.
Because it's not a standard phone call, it even works with a locked phone a deactivated SIM card or if you don't have reception with your cell provider. In these cases the phone will just use the nearest cell tower, regardless of the provider. Most phones will then not display "No Service" but "Emergency only".
A friend of mine is a police officer in Germany and I was once discussing the issue with the informal "Du" with him. He said it is very much standard practice that they would never try to fine a foreigner who is just struggling with german grammar and adresses them with informal "du". That is simply not the spirit of this law and they are also not incentivised in any way to give out fines. It also makes a massive difference to them if you address them with "du" in an otherwise friendly and respectful manner, or if you combine the informal address with aggression and disrespect. He also said he never personally had a case where he opened a case for insult against him for insult, but he definitely would if someone called him an asshole or something.
Das Wort 'du' alleine wird egal wie abfällig ich es ausspreche, nie eine Beleiding sein. Wurde bereits gerichtlich geklärt. Az. (412 Ds) 2 Ju Js 186/08 (74/08) Jug, 412 Ds 74/08 Jug). Wer einen Polzisten duzt, begeht keine Beleidigung
Addressing a police office informally is not so much a problem in itself. I think the cases the writers of this law had in mind are the ones where there is a verbal disagreement already and the person addressing the police officer deliberately uses the informal address as part of their expression of disrespect.
And repeatedly doing so after being asked to use the formal version.
I tend to remember something my driving instructor or a teacher once told me regarding the use of the formal an informal version: „Es ist einfacher ‚du Ar***loch!‘ zu sagen, als ‚Sie Ar***loch!‘.“
Translation:
„It’s easier to say ‚(informal) you a**hole!‘ than ‚(formal) you a**hole!‘..“
I would bet my a** that not a single time in German history an American or any other non-native German-speaker on vacation or whatever who tried to speak German to a German Police Officer and used the informal "Du" got any kind of trouble. Probably they just would have a lot of respect for you that you're trying to show respect as a visitor or immigrant by speaking German. 😆
We have a saying here in Germany:
"It's easier to say 'Du A**hole' than 'Sie A**hole'."
A couple of distant US relatives were visiting us in Germany, and my Dad asked me by phone over the loudspeaker, when I could get off of work to hang out. I told him, "Frau Schmidt" (name changed) said I could leave an hour early.
When I got to the party, one of our relatives aaked, why I called my boss Frau Schmidt instead of using the first name. I told him, because she's my boss and I don't hang out with her casually, nor do I wish to.
I grew up in Oklahoma as well, before we moved to Germany when I was 14, and my German mother ALWAYS made sure I called all grown-ups Mr. or Ms. Suchandsuch. And even when they told her it was okay for me to call them by their first name, my Mom always made it VERY clear that no, it is very much NOT okay. The adults were not my friends, but elders to be respected.
I've been here in Germany for 34 years now, and things have indeed gotten a lot more casual here. And I find this development to be somewhat problematic. When formal address is pooh-poohed as being unimportant, inhibitions to behave badly also get lowered. Social media is the best example. You think comment sections in the US can get nasty? They are AMATEURS compared to the Germans, and the one commmon thread in all these interactions is that EVERYONE uses the informal "Du" on the internet... even with complete STRANGERS.
So yeah, I've had bosses offer me the "Du" and first names before, but ummmm.... nö! I'm just fine with the formal "Sie"!
Question of the week: My dad, because he rarely took any interest in raising his children.
So, about the video. Those differences, while interesting, don't matter much in my opinion. What I find more interesting are the differences in training between countries, and how police officers see themselves. I am not American, so I may be wrong, but from my point of view, a not inconsiderable part of American police forces seem to see themselves more like soldiers and shepherds of the public than civil servants, which is evident when they are excessively violent for no reason or insist, you need to know the exact legal speech to get a lawyer, stating that "I won't say anything until I get a lawyer." or just remaining silent is not sufficient when you want to invoke the fifth and sixth amendment. At least that's the impression I get from entertainment media, news, and American lawyers on UA-cam (I don't know why I watch their videos either, it's just... oddly interesting to learn how things are done in other countries.). Of course, police officers like that exist everywhere, it just looks like they are more common across the pond.
Oh and there is a funny video of a guy in Germany calling a policeman "Du Wichser." and then after apologizing correcting to "Sie Wichser.".
Insults are always a criminal offense in Germany. Even against ordinary citizens.
Calling the police a bull or showing the middle finger can result in severe penalties.
Likewise, show no respect to a female police officer.
If you want to insult someone without actually getting into any trouble in Germany you have to say „Sie können mich mal!“ that sentence is the perfect not-insult-insult, because it could be anything.
@@jennyh4025 Or just formulate your insult as a question: "Ist Ihnen noch zu helfen?" technically isn't an insult, but a question.
While it may not technically be illegal to insult an LEO in the US, it is also not recommended, since they usually shoot on sight, whenever they feel threatened...and "flipping the bird" towards an LEO could definitely be construed by the effected LEO as: *"I thought the suspect aimed a g_n on me. I feared for my life and had to defend myself"* ...which any court in the US will accept as a totally valid excuse.
Gee, I wonder what your criminal record looks like.
@@eq1373
Why wonder, when you can simply ask?
It's as clean as freshly fallen snow.
The thing is: There is no "Beamtenbeleidigung" in the German law, only "Beleidigung" which means insult. If you insult a natural person in the vicinity of whitnesses, the insulted person can file a complaint and the whole court case kicks off. Natural persons. Juristical persons are not protected. So "A.C.A.B." is not an insult, as long it is not directed at a single officer. There also was also a case, where a police officer was called "head forester". He filed a complaint for insult, but that got thrown out by the judge. The implication of that name was that he could not do his job and should transfer to the forest department. But the judge did not see that as a given, it was merely an error of rank denomination of the insultee.
That last one is probably because the "insult" wasn't really suitable to actually harm him in front of others. The witnesses must be able to understand the insult (both language and content) and it has to be suited to cause actual harm (e.g. a loss of status or dignity) to the target.
A head forester wouldn't necessarily be seen as lesser than a police officer, so the harm is questionable.
If you are using a mobile phone they are programmed to use the appropriate local emergency number, whatever emergency number you dial .
A.C.A.B. are the first letters of the names of our Foreign Minister, Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock.
Yes it's no Problem if you dial the "wrong" emergency number, they will just reconnect you. The control center/-s have to work together all the times anyway so that's no Problem. The control center that is responsible for my area even houses both and they are just separated by some glass walls for quick Cooperation and Exchange. But reconnecting is no problem, also if you f.e. landed in the wrong control center they will just quickly reconnect you with the right one in seconds.
Interesting information about your local control center! Thanks for sharing 😃
Mounting, or worse using, blue lights on a private vehicle NOT registered as an appropriate emergency vehicle can and WILL get you into serious trouble in Germany, as this is considered impersonation of an official person. To prevent people from loosing trust in the flashing blue lights, and reacting appropriately, these fines are rigorously enforced. So don't even consider allowing a passenger to play a brightly lit flashing blue video on their phone holding it up to the windscreen while in the passenger seat at night. This might not (probably not, but don't wager on it) get you in trouble, but you might be pulled over if you do get caught by a cop. Very very probably you'd just get a warning if it was blatantly obvious your passenger was pulling a prank. However if you used it to entice others to move out of your way, possibly even causing damage or accidents, oh boy, THAT'S not gonna end well.
Dito for any kind of sirens. That's why PA systems are also heavily regulated as these can be used to simulate sirens/emergency horns of standard emergency vehicles.
Random question: technically, my dad, but he was away for most of the week so my mom didn't really have a choice when it came to enforcing rules.
It’s not your job to proof that you say Du to everyone, but it’s their job to proof that you tried to insult them.
10:26 I think it is noteworthy to point out that accident response vehicles of public transit companies with guided vehicles (like trams or Trains) and or trolleybuses may also be equipped with and use a blue blinking light as long as they are sufficiently marked as accident response vehicles from the outside.
This includes f.e. Deutsche Bahn, LVB and other transit companies.
There are even some more: Emergency response vehicles from the water or gas suppliers are allowed to use them, too.
I didn't even know that the emergency number 112 is now available in so many countries!
Actually, the introduction of these numbers, the 110 and 112, goes back to a single private individual, when 8-year-old Boy Jörg Steiger was injured in a car accident 40 years ago and died because the rescue service only showed up at the accident site 1 hour later, in this case to late.
(Now many Germans will surely remember the emergency telephones on the autobahn, on which a plaque from a "Jörg Steiger Foundation" was attached.)
After this accident, the boy's father campaigned vehemently for the introduction of a Germany-wide emergency number, which he succeeded in doing and it was introduced in 1973.
The actually German emergency number 112 was even introduced throughout Europe in 1991 in order to establish a uniform emergency number in all EU member states and to make emergency services easier to reach, especially for travellers.
Thank you for your post.
Every time someone tells me that 'one person cannot make a difference' or 'es ändert sich sowieso nix' I think of this!
Auto correct messed up the name of the Stiftung though:
It's Bjorn Steiger.
Rule of thumb: Family, friends and little children: Du
Everyone else: Sie
I wanted to write an elaborate comment on the Tagesspiegel's characterisation of the slogan "Die Polizei, dein Freund und Helfer".
As I don't want to start political fights here, though, I just offer the observation that it may be important to know what part of the political spectrum a paper is from when you quote them.
This might inform on their comments.
I, 53, have never had a negative connotation with the mentioned slogan.
This one was really well researched.
Very interesting!
All European countries (and UK) use blue flashing lights on emergency vehicles.
Adding some information from the Netherlands regarding the use of blue emergency lights.
In addition to the police, fire brigade and ambulance, other emergency services have also been designated who may use a blue flashing light.
In the Netherlands, these include the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, USAR, the road inspectors of "Rijkswaterstaat" (Ministry of infrastructure and water management), various rescue brigades, ProRail Incident Response, the explosives clearance service, Sanquin Blood Supply, the emergency response teams of the Dutch Red Cross and transport for organ transplantation.
Blue lights may not be used by others. This group is allowed to use yellow/orange flashing lights.
My favorite ACAB that I saw on a Sticker in Berlin was "All cops are bärtig" ("all cops are beardy")
12:45 Considering insults to be part of freedom of speech has always been a wild idea to me when looking at the US from over the pond. In Germany, there's a clear line between criticism and free speech versus abusing someone verbally. The latter is completely unacceptable and could end your position if you were to do this in a public office. At least that's how it used to be; it's seemingly become a lot more common to brush off insults as one-off mistakes.
Yes its correct - if you dial 911 in Germany you are automatically directed to the 112 emergency dispatch center.
Kai Pflaume is also known for using the informal you on everyone, while Günter Jauch is known for receiving the formal you from everyone.
The german police treats donni well because his tickets have funded the golden toilets in the Police HQ.
Haha, they haven't been getting anything from me for a while! They may be wondering where their golden toilet budget has gone!
911 in Europe is only guaranteed to work on mobile. On landline 911 collides in many cities with numbers assigned long ago.
No, using "Du" isn't in itself an insult. It's like always a matter of context - which can make it difficult, as using Du - and possibly in addition first name - so a stranger may come over as patronizing, talking down on someone not in the same class/ less worth, which ofc tilts toward insult. That's BTW why police is usually trained to never use informal address at all. In fact, they get, at least in Bavaria, even trained to use extreme old fashioned references when talking - like "Der Junge Herr" - literally "the young lord".
But again, as mentioned, it's all about circumstances, so as someone clearly speaking dialect, or as a foreigner, you'll never get into trouble for using "Du". Depending on situation the police might as well swtich to dialect and/or informal address.
Red lights in Germany are exclusive break lights. In the US it can be break lights, turn signal or emergency lights, typical US. No clear rules.
I am a '66er.
In former days, in Germany, we called a Police-man: "Schutzmann":
A "guarding-man".
What I really love about the American police is that they often have activities for children at local fairs and festivals. They talk to the children and answer their questions. My kids always enjoy talking to firefighters and police officers. Sometimes, they get a sticker and you can see how that makes their day 🥰
I remember for firefighters that is a thing in Germany, too. Even small village volunteer fire departments have an annual BBQ, but in cities it usually gets bigger with inflatable castles and activities like archery and such. And, of course, the kids get to take a close look at the fire trucks and the gear. Ah, memories! ;)
@@ddshiranui Yep, that’s true. Sometimes they also go to local schools to teach kids about fire fighting and fire safety.
"My rights only reach so far until they reach someone else's."
Actually, the reason for common emergency numbers rose when the digital GSM telephone network was introduced in 1991/1992. With the analog mobile networks used before you only had a connection in your own country. Therefore your phone didn't work abroad and was not useable even for emergency calls abroad. When GSM with international roaming was introduced, a uniform number was required. I remember when I had my first phone in 1992 when GSM started in Germany, when I was at the English channel on one side, I could use service providers from both France and Britain and when I was on a Ferry on the Baltic Sea, I often could select providers from three or four countries. Therefore, in case of an emergency, it would be difficult if you had to know the different national emergency numbers of all countries and to check first in which country the provider you logged in is sitting since sometimes you could select from a dozen or more providers. (My first mobile phone had a transmission power from 5 to 8 watts and therefore allowed longer distances to the next base station and there were fewer cell phones and base stations than today, while today's cell phones have a self-regulating transmission power I think in the range from 200 to 500 mW.)
About flashing lights: Cars on construction sites, towing cars, garbage trucks, road sweepers, snowplows, and oversized or heavy-load trucks all have yellow flashlights.
In the part of Germany where I live it's usually no problem mixing "Du" and "Sie". Our regional dialect uses French, German and even local words. It's just a mix and as long as we do understand each other there's no problem. We are multi-culti for thousands of years😊
In czech republic we also have multiple emergency lines.
150 - fire department
155 - ambulance
156 - municipality police
158 - national police
112 - international emergency line, works in all EU countries
112 is the police here in Norway, 110 is the fire department and 113 the ambulance here.
1412 is for people with reduced hearing (deaf people etc) that need emergency services.
SMS is possible to the emergency numbers too.
As for nonemergency help from the police there's 02800.
Non-urgent help from the other services have different numbers pr area.
112 is a universal emergency number in all of the EU/EEC and will work even without a sim card or adequate phone reception, like on a Norwegian mountain.
Your explanation of the German du/sie made me think of something else. Here in Finland, we also have the formal and informal ways of addressing people, but the formal way is rarely used nowadays. Also, even though we do have words for Mister and Mrs, those haven't really been used anymore during my lifetime (that's about 50 years). The only occasion I can think of when they are always used is when addressing the president of Finland and his spouse: the president is "mister president", and his spouse is "mrs Lastname".
But about 20 years ago we had our first female president and news reporters had a problem. How to address her boyfriend? At the time she became the president they weren't even married, although they did get married later. Addressing him as "mister Lastname" didn't seem right. Fortunately (or not) he happened to have a title of his own: valiokuntaneuvos. Don't ask me what that means because no-one here knows either. It is an obscure political title that he had somehow acquired earlier in his life. But that was all they had, so reporters referred to him as "valiokuntaneuvos Lastname". It took them all day to say it.
Then fortunately, a couple of years later he got his PhD and reporters started to refer to him as "doctor Lastname". That probably made life a lot easier for everyone concerned.
Next year we are again going to have presidential elections and this time, there is a real chance that we might get our first gay president. His husband is a hairdresser. I might vote for him just because I want to see how reporters are going to deal with that.
In Germany we call the police Cars Polizeiauto or “FuStW”. That means Funkstreifenwagen and is an normally police car in Germany. We have some special cars like the undercoverpolicecars “ZFustW” ( Zivilstreifenwagen ). My English skills are not so good, so I can not explain really them.
Even English once had a gradation of polite forms like 'thou' (du) and 'you' (sie). However, the familiar form was lost shortly after Shakespeare's era.
In my city they also used the flashing blue lights when they picked outside food for having lunch at the station and didnt wanted it to be cold before being back 😂
Nice videoouuu, as always. Two very important facts when comparing police forces of both countries are definitely missing (and they are non-political too): 1. education and training, and 2. the organisation of the police. Training in Germany: several years in special universities plus on the job training with the state's exams. In the US: sometimes only weeks. Organisation: In the US, you have, what, 57 different police organisations on federal, state, county, municipality, even university level, all differently equipped and all with different rules and regulations. In Germany, you police forces on federal and on state level. They are all sworn in as "Beamte," and they are being paid equally, either by the relevant state or by the federal Ministry of the Interior acc. to the Bundesbesoldungsgesetz. All together, we have 3 federal police forces (including the Bundestagspolizei) and one police force per state. That's it.
Section 52 paragraph 3 of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO) explains which institutions are specifically allowed to equip their vehicles with blue lights: police, military police, federal police, customs service, etc. fire brigade, disaster control, accident relief vehicles of public transport companies.
According to Section 38 Paragraph 3 of the StVO, yellow flashing lights warn of various dangers. These can be, for example, work and accident sites (including snow removal vehicles and tow trucks), unusually slow vehicles (tractors) or large-capacity transport that is overly wide. When transporting heavy goods, there is often an accompanying vehicle with glowing warm signs behind the truck.
By the way, the siren is also called 'Martinshorn'.
Greetings from northern germany ❤
In Germany, only emergency vehicles use blue light ("Blaulicht"). Others must use yellow lights. To my knowledge, it's the same in other EU countries as well as the UK. Blue lights plus siren means you must give way.
I called a police officer "du" when I was new here and he was totally chill. I was riding my bike in what I didn't realise was a pedestrian area and I didn't understand "schieben" (to push, e.g. push your bike) until he demonstrated and there was no problem.
Great video! As a German, I'm having a hard time imagining that using the informal "you" would actually get you in trouble.
Yes, you can technically speaking sue someone for insulting you. However in practice that seldom ever happens because few people in germany are so thin skinned as to not be able to laugh off the odd insult. Also insult is a rather hard case to prove and few judges are willing to recognize an insult as severe enough to warrant punishment. Maybe if we were talking about a long insult rant or specifically vile insults that touch upon protected characteristics like race, gender or country of origin. Or maybe if the insult in some way resulted in actual damage in some way. But other than such cases there's very little chance to actually get punished by law for an insult if you get charged at all.
Finally, this confusion of "sie" and "du" is not an insult. It may be considered rude depending on the circumstances but this is not an actionable offense. This fear is completly overblown.
Fun fact: The flower pot behind ya is for balcony's banisters. ^^
That's why the slit it there. ^^
But...I highly assume you already know and have it inside, because...d'uh!...winter!...or say cold still at night. ^^ 😝
There is a big misconception of "Beamtenbeleidigung" its equaly illegal to insult someone in Germany who is not a state worker, its just far more easier for a police officer to press charges. And if you flip the bird to the police you are pretty much asking to spend a night at "Kaffee Viereck". At worst you could get 3 years prison time for insults.
As many have already pointed out: an insult needs intent as an ingredient. No German judge would follow an argument that using the wrong grammatical case from a non native speaker constitutes an insult. On the other hand the different way of addressing someone, either formal or informal is not only common as well in French, Spanish, Italian etc. but also in English - just handled grammatically different through adding a sir to your address. So I humbly do beseech you of your pardon, sir, but would you please be so kind and reconsider? And since I am a modest person a simple Yes Sir! would suffice ;-)
As for addressing a police officer: I'm not a lawyer, but I'd assume that a police officer that notices he's talking to an American who's speaking some German but isn't great at it is likely just skipping over the informal version of "you" because he might even know that Americans don't even have that distinction. Especially if he's not being insulting.
the "main original" moto means that it goes directly against the Nazi one. Because as Himler said, they did not want the police to be seen as helping the people (probably more as a controller)
Neither my mom nor my dad let me get away with anything.
When you get pulled over in the US, the police car pulls up behind you, hence no screen on the back for written instructions, let alone instructions in multiple languages using the word "please"
Mom or Dad: I can't think of a situation that would demonstrate a difference, though I'm sure there was one. They certainly had differences of opinion.
Cool new specs!
The thing with informal adressing is an urban myth imho.... For a german this would be considered disrespectful, if you use informal adress to a police officer, but in a conversation with a foreigner that doesen´t speak the language very well, they usually won´t care.
Almost all the times my dad let me get away, he was like "yeah whatever" :D
It's no problem to use informal speech with officers as long as it happens in a respectful manner. As soon as you get condescending or extremely petty you can get in hot water but that really depends on the situation and people involved.
One thing you forgot is the training each force has to do. In Germany ongoing officers need up to 3 years of training while the US just have a couple of weeks.
No police officer would get angry/charge you by accidentaly using the unformal "DU" . But native speaker know, when the informal "DU" becomes inpolite. And german is not te only language, which has a formal and informal translation of the english you (frensh, spanish for example have similar translations). On the other hand you will never have to to adress an policeofficer or anyone else as "Sir or Mam" this sounds realy weird for german native speakers.
Let's not even get into Japanese, where it doesn't stop at just formal and informal.
Very good that you mention that 112 is the generic emergency number in all of Europe
Hmmm... regarding formal/informal "you": I was taught in my English lessons at school (ok, in the 80s, here in Germany): In English always always always add a Sir or Mrs./Madam when talking to officials: "Yes, Sir. Thank you Mrs. or Madam". E.g. to the migration/border control officers, police or all other officials in the US. Otherwise it could be considered as rude. Imho, this is the informal way to talk and show respect to an US police officer, isn't it?
3:00 yes whether it's the police or the fire department they can direct you without any problem at all ... they maybe tell you "well you are wrong here its 110/112 what you need let me direct you have a great day" .. i never had it myself just needed the medical one a few times and used it but i heard from a few people who called the wrong ... or needed both in the same moment and learned that way its not important which one you call "first" in that scenario
15:35 well my mom ... but at the same time my father wasnt that much at home as truckdriver on the road from monday to friday xD and he was quite strict ^^ but overall both had their times where i got away with something .. xD
In Austria there was once a case where a guy said "Sie Arschloch" to a police officer and wasn't fined (ofc at the spot but he even went to court and they ruled that the "sie" levered out the "Beamtenbeleidigung") because he used the formal you. That just shows how ridiculous the language sometimes can be :D
Rqotw: dad all the way, as an only child and boy I always ran to him and complained about mom and he often overturned her parenting decision in favour of me
The guy actually got a „Sie Arschloch“ out of his mouth? Something in my body makes it pretty much impossible for me to say this combination.
It's nonsense that you get in trouble for calling a cop "Du". They are well trained to adapt to different situations.
And that brings us to the biggest difference: police officer is a training occupation in Germany. Applicants are tested on fitness, language and education and then complete a minimum of three years of practical and theoretical training, such as self-defense and criminal law.
here in germany cops have to learn more than where to get the best donut
First things first: It was my mom 🙂
In Germany we have different light schemes for emergemcy and non emergency vehicles.
Emergency vehicles use blue light, all other yellow flashing light, so it's clear if it's just some "men at work" in front of you (may it be a constructions site, someone cleaning the road or towing a car), or if there is maybe an emergency.
You mentioned the "Follow me" sign at the back of the police car, but I missed the ... let's say: second part: When there is a police car with flashing lights behind you in the US -> It's a traffic stop. If you see flashing lights behind you in germany you drive to the side of the road, maybe stop in the next intersection to make room for the emergency vehicle behind you. If they want to stop you they will use such "follow me" signs or other signals to tell you to follow them.
And regarding insulting police officers - or let's say any goverment officials - that'snot a good idea. As a non-native speaker you may not get in trouble (depending on your language skills). There is no specific law for them - 185 StGB includes all - but there is extensive case law you can use as a price list and it goes up to two years of jail time, depending on what you said.
question of the week: it always depended on how my dad was feeling. Sometimes he didn't care AT ALL so no matter what we did he couldn't care less. But if he had a bad day and needed someone to shout at he'd penalise every tiny thing we did wrong
The famous German "You may say you to me". 😅
It's actually already insulting, if Dieter Bohlen talks to you. No matter the topic.
The blue light form the V
Emergency service is from 1933 because blue light has highes spread at the atmosphere so you cant see it above 500 Meters( Thats the number i have in my head). It was introuduce that i case of an War the emergency service can be target so easy.
No one would threaten you, if you use the word Du , especially when they learn, you are a native english speaker. In the Northern countries like Sweden everyone is using the word Du.
In Norway:
110 Fire & Rescue
112 Police
113 Ambulance
911 route you to 112
The taz is a very leftwing newspaper. The Nazis also identified areas for protection of nature. I will not blame them for THAT either. - So what is bad about a "friend and helper"?
Same with the word "Autobahn" some people are just useless and bored, that they need to be offended to have atleast something going on in there life and get some acknowledgement from other bored and offended people.
Dad was the good cop, mom was the bad cop.
In the US there is much use of "ma'am" or "sir", especially in the south. Every encounter I've had with police - whether in the south or north - everything out of my mouth was yes or no ma'am or sir. Does German still have "ma'am" or "sir"?
herr for sir and frau for ma'am but these are used before surname or rank
The thing calling 911 on landline is, that very (very very) old telephone connections sometimes still have 3 digit phone numbers and you automatically have your local prefix number set, if you don’t explicitly use one. But that would be the case for 112 and 110 too, so I don’t know if this is still the case for 911 or if I‘m completely wrong and they already replaced the 911 phone numbers of all customers. 🤷♂️
Thats what i always find funny in america, the way people talk to the police officers is highly respectless. Sometimes i do understand why they get agressive (which ofc is not ok) I just think that people value freedom of speech way to high. Threating another human with such disrespect is not ok and shouldnt be protected as freedom of speech.
Before WWII emergency lights on police and fire department vehicles in Germany (well if they were already motorized... which probably was only the case for big enough cities) actually were red, but later were changed to blue because the blue light diffuses above a certain altitude, which kind of was important during air raids to not make them prime targets. Of course this later was rendered practically useless with the development of bombs that lit up the target area (so called "christmas trees") but I guess since the US usually doesn't have to deal with enemy aircraft bombing cities on US territory they just chose to use the typical US flag colors whereas in Germany after WWII they kept simply using blue, because it also isn't part of traffic light colors and thus easy to distinguish between a regular traffic light and an emergency vehicle. But originally it was also chosen to aid with "Verdunkelung" (blackout) during air raids.
This is correct, the first blue lights were used to be not so well visible for hostile air craft. But this were single lights with cobalt blue light (a very dark blue) and is has NOTHING in common with modern LED blue lights. And they were shown only forward to minimize the possibility of detection (no traffic warning necessary during an air raid).
Our oldest fire engine from 1952 had such a siren/light combination still on the wing, but it was not in use any more. Instead there were normal blue flashing lights on the roof. That engine was used until 1971 IIRC and was at that time older than most of its drivers.
Wenn du versehentlich die beiden Notrufnummern vertauschst (112 - 110), kommt trotzdem die richtige Hilfe. Sie benachichtigen sich untereinander.
Also im lebensbedrohlichen Notfall NICHT auflegen, wenn du merkst die Nummer ist falsch, sondern mitteilen welche Art Hilfe du brauchst!
The enormous fines for addressing an officer as “du” are actually a myth stemming from a real legal case. The case was NOT about the use of “du” in general, but rather about a specific situation called “fortgesetztes du…” (continued “you…”). Since insulting people is a crime in Germany, unlike in the US, this is a type of question a court actually needed to rule on: does is violate the law against insults, if I just say “you …” to someone with the clear and obvious implication that a swearword is to follow this “you”? In other words, does it not violate the law if I do not actually loudly pronounce the swearword but rather leave it implied? The court ruled no and imposed a large fine on the defendant, and I am very much in doubt that it would have ruled differently if it would have been about a “fortgesetztes Sie…”.
I've heared, that there is a non-emergency number for the police in the US and you can get in trouble, if you misuse the 911-number.
I know 911, but no other number. Could I get fined, if I dialed the wrong number just because of not nowing the right one?
Here in Germany you can't film the Police to protect your self. This is a huge difference and it's important to know. There is a other interesting Channel on YT calls "Audit the Audit", this is not possible in Germany....thx for this vid.
That is not quite correct:
"Wer nicht Betroffener einer Maßnahme ist, also die Polizei bei Maßnahmen beobachtet, darf diese grundsätzlich filmen. Denn in diesem Moment besteht eine faktische Öffentlichkeit. Achtung: Damit ist noch nichts über die Veröffentlichung des Materials gesagt."
@@sisuguillam5109 I am sorry but this not the reality in Germany. The legal framework for the police is big enough to say shot down the cam. I live in Germany Munich and as an activist you know this. :)
@@kobiwankinobi erm... jetzt rat mal in welchem Land ich gerade auf dem Sofa sitze?
Natürlich gibt es Polizisten die die Gesetzeslage ignorieren - das heißt nicht, daß die Gesetzeslage sich geändert hat, sondern das Polizisten das Recht brechen.
I guess it's not only that it's just Dieter and that he does it all the time. Yes he does, but I have to say it is also Hamburg. I grew up in this area and Hamburg and everything above it don't use the formal "Sie" that much anyways. No matter how close I was to Hamburg or how close to the north sea, baltic sea or to denmark, nobody cares about it if you say "Du".
No matter if it's a teacher, the police or just a stranger you never say "Sie". Cuz mostly if you say "Sie" in that region you just get back the words "So alt bin ich noch nicht" ( I'm not that old yet ). The only person that pops up in my mind where you would use "Sie" here is your boss or in school the principal. That's it. This was my biggest issue when I lived for 2 years in a different region in Germany, cuz I earned a lot bad looks when I said "Du" 😅
In the US you never follow a police car, the police car follows you! That is for the safety of the police officer.
Thats why the bots say that in Fallout 4, "protect and serve"...
The THW (Technisches Hilfswerk/ technical help) has also blue flashlight
The construction cars had orange flashlight.
Insulting a police officer isn't a specific crime, there's no such thing as "Beamtenbeleidigung". Any random guy you flip of or insult could get you in legal trouble, it's just not a common thing to do for regular citizens (even though they could). As far as I'm aware simply using Du instead of Sie is no trouble at all, but your fine for an insult could be higher if you use the informal address while insulting someone instead of using the polite form while insulting someone. So "Sie insult" can get you in trouble and "Du insult" can get you in trouble, but the Du if you're not actually familiar could make the second option more insulting and therefore it would be judged harsher.
11:40 you can say you to me! XD
I'll try to explain, why adressing a police officer with "Du" might be seen as offensive. Due to the fact, that it is common courtesy in germany, to adress every unfamiliar person on a last name basis, it is rather uncommon to be called "Du" out of the blue (unless it's 3am at a pub). Thus, anybody, who is aware of social norms, would never even think about adressing their boss or a government official with "Du", unless they are gearing up for an insult anyway. It is not the informal speech itself that might get you into trouble. It is the implicit understanding, that anybody who consciously decides to adress a police officer with "Du" is likely to continue the sentence with further intentional disrespect. Beeing stopped by the police, and opening up with "what do you(Du) want from me asshole?" is a bad idea in ANY country. The mere fact, that you are stupid enough to initiate a conversation with the police in a disrespecful manner implies, that you are eager and ready for further disrespect, insults and maybe even physical resistance. Obviously any policemen worth their salt will know, that a foreigner, who is struggling with german, will most likely be unfamiliar to those social norms, and use "Du" out of ignorance, instead of using it as a starter for further insult. Thus I really would not worry about that, unless your german is so good, that you might be mistaken for a native.
It’s not about „du“ or „sie“. I as a German have referred to cops with „du“. Especially younger ones or my age (it’s a respect thing to say „sie“ to older gernerations, not just cops but any regular people. Kinda like you say dude and Sir in English.)
But the main point is that it’s about the intention. And that works the same in English. You can belittle someone and their authority by using dude or similar while you are aggressive or passive aggressive, insulting etc. same with the German „du“.
However if you are being nice, or even just regular polite or just not impolite, no one is really going to take „du“ as offensive and it will most definitely not be an offense. However it is common courtesy to use „Sie“ as it is a sign of respect but that in itself definitely does not qualify for a punishable crime. As a foreigner anyone will understand that you are not familiar with the language and trying your best. As a German unless you are vibing with the cop like I mentioned above you will just look like a bozo if you do it ;)
Now there are some people with sticks up their asses who will want you to call them „sie“ in any case but that’s the same people you have in the states too who suffer from napoleon syndrome ;)
As we would say in German: „wie du in den Wald reinrufst, so schallt es zurück“ (how you call into the forest, it will bounce back) 😁
Well, as I often say: there is a big monetary difference between "Sie A...loch" and "Du A..loch" 😂
BTW: I prefer the german constitutional right of untouchable human dignity any time over US American freedom of speech. Especially seeing how the freedom of speech is used to harm, insult, hurt and instigate.