The scenes from Chemnitz yesterday are the culmination of trends in Saxony that have been building for years. A police force that never quite shook off authoritarian tendencies since 1990 and always seems more willing to hammer antifascist activists than radical Right networks
There are problems in dealing with the radical Right across Germany, but even among law enforcement circles on the federal level and other Länder there is a mix of disdain and distrust when it comes to colleagues in Saxony. Big changes there are overdue.
As ever in Germany though, you have to drill down to the local level. Conditions in Leipzig are pretty close to the rest of the country when it comes to policing. But the drift in other Landkreise comes down to a Land government unwilling to push hard enough for change
