Ministry counters

Police personnel: “Facts instead of fake news”

According to the provincial directorate, the police in Burgenland are in a top position in terms of personnel.

(Bild: Christian Schulter/Christian schulter)

Reactions are fierce after SPÖ mayors from Burgenland drew attention to a shortage of police personnel. The Ministry of the Interior firmly rejects the criticism as "fake news".

Too few officers, too much overtime, more presence desired - that was the SPÖ's summary in a nutshell. "Once again, some believe that police personnel must be a political plaything. And once again they have scored a hair-raising own goal with this plaything," countered the Ministry of the Interior.

An increase in officers
According to the report, the state police directorate is demonstrably in an excellent position in terms of personnel. "Everything else is fake news," says the responsible department in Vienna. Even with a strict calculation, i.e. "full-time employees", Burgenland currently has an increase of 215 police officers.

Overtime check
SPÖ mayors from the district of Neusiedl am See also described more than 212,000 hours of overtime as "far too much": "That's 139 hours more per police officer per year." According to the Ministry of the Interior, overtime is unavoidable in 24/7 organizations, but in the police force it is seen by many as "welcome extra income": "Many officers therefore also voluntarily take on overtime from others."

In short, the permanent position system is fully covered. "Burgenland is in a top position in terms of personnel today and for many years to come, we are ideally equipped," summarizes the Provincial Police Directorate.

Rethinking required
SPÖ mandatary Roman Kainrath, member of the police committee, is sticking to his call for a realignment of the basic system and the salary scheme for the executive: "There can be no question of fake news. We can only refer to the figures provided by the Ministry of the Interior in the course of a parliamentary question in 2024."

During the debate, the MP referred to a police inspection that reflects the personnel problem: "Among the 13 systemized officers, there are eleven who cannot be planned full-time equivalent according to the current status."