Overview

• Interior Minister Herbert Reul ordered NRW police to record and publish all nationalities of suspects and victims in the state crime statistics, effective retroactively from 1 July.
• An internal review of 2024 data found roughly one in six suspects with German citizenship also held another passport, led by German‑Turkish, German‑Polish and German‑Russian combinations.
• Under federal rules, the BKA still receives only a single nationality, so the change currently affects only NRW’s state statistics.
• SPD and Greens accused Reul of promoting a divisive narrative; the police union in NRW questioned the utility, while the FDP voiced conditional support and called for federal coordination.
• Union interior policy spokesman Alexander Throm urged nationwide adoption, echoing Reul’s case for transparency and improved situational awareness.