Berlin’s police union representatives have pushed back against the local Green Party’s election pledge to abolish the city’s neutrality law and permit police officers to wear headscarves on duty, warning that such a move would blur the line between personal faith and state authority.
Angélique Yumusak, women’s representative of the German Police Union, sharply criticized the proposal in comments to the Berliner Kurier, arguing that visible religious symbols have no place in policing.
“Headscarves have absolutely no place in the police force. Religion and state must be kept strictly separate,” she said.
“Women who choose to wear this religious symbol of their own free will are free to do so in our country,” she said, but warned, “They have no place in a uniform. Anyone who chooses this profession knows the rules. I’m applying for a job, and the requirements are very clearly defined.”
„Das Kopftuch hat in der Polizei überhaupt nichts zu suchen. Religion und Staat sind ganz streng auseinanderzuhalten", sagt Angélique Yumusak, DPolG-Frauenbeauftragte im #BerlinerKurier. Wer Uniform trage, repräsentiere den Staat – nicht sich selbst 1/3 https://t.co/OAZLh6Zcna
— DPolG Berlin (@DPolGBerlin) February 16, 2026“Ideologies regarding religion are particularly pronounced here,” she said, warning that such a move could affect police operations in a city already fractured by political and religious tensions.
In further comments from the German Police Union Berlin (DPolG), published on social media, the organization said the “headscarf-Islam obsession of the Berlin Greens is counterproductive for women. It suggests a moral code exclusively for women.
“It is not in the interest of the state, but rather a fatal sign for our democracy, to use patriarchal oppression for votes,” it added.
The renewed debate follows the Green Party’s election platform, which calls for the abolition of Berlin’s neutrality law governing religious symbols in public service. In its manifesto, the party writes, “We want to enable all people to live their religious convictions publicly and without discrimination,” adding that, “Regarding the neutrality law, we are following the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court and will finally abolish it.”
The neutrality law still applies to police officers and members of the judiciary, even after recent legal changes affecting schools. In 2023, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court overturned a blanket ban on teachers wearing headscarves, and since December, teachers in Berlin have officially been permitted to wear them in classrooms.
Berlin’s governing CDU and SPD have so far defended maintaining neutrality requirements for police and courts, arguing that visible religious symbols could undermine public trust in state impartiality.
