Only 16 Officers: Property Protection Police in Vienna Starts Understaffed

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior pointed to "a total of 365 applications received in 2024". However, only those 16 people "successfully completed the service examination".

Bumpy Start for Object Protection Police in Vienna

According to the Ministry, the Object Protection Police is supposed to relieve the regular patrol service in the federal capital in guarding embassies and buildings from the area of critical infrastructure. For this purpose, applicants are trained in a six-month short training course. A 60-member troop was originally planned for the start in December, and at times even up to 100 officers were mentioned for the final expansion.

Guard Troop to be Further Increased

The object protection force will, of course, continue to be increased, said the spokeswoman. It is not yet clear how many forces the contingent should ultimately have in the final stage. The primary focus is now on achieving the planned minimum personnel strength, the spokeswoman emphasized. "The gradually growing object protection police and the ongoing assistance operation create important personnel resources for the patrol service," it was announced.

Federal Army Soldiers in Vienna on Assistance Duty

Currently, up to 150 soldiers of the Federal Army are already securing diplomatic representations and particularly sensitive facilities in the federal capital as part of an assistance operation. The assistance operation is to be continued for some time, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

The Ministry also emphasized that during the course of this year "more than 600 police students" have been admitted to basic training and around 200 would start basic training on December 1, 2024. This has resulted in "a doubling of admissions compared to the previous year with 415 entries", it was said.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.