Many would-be Vienna cops fail German test
The number of applications to join the Viennese police has doubled, while more than four in ten fail the German test, it has been announced.Vienna police spokeswoman Manuela Vockner said yesterday (Sun) they received around 85 applications from Austrians every week after the launch of a recruitment campaign last month. Only around 45 applications were sent in at the start of this year, she added.Vockner said: “The interest in becoming a policeman in Vienna has risen.”She explained police in the capital needed to take on 450 police academy students every year.But she revealed that 41 per cent of those who apply fail the mandatory German test. “The spelling skills of applicants with and without migration background are insufficient,” she said.Police in the capital have been confronted with harsh criticism over their current recruitment initiative.Campaign posters with slogans such as “Gerechtigkeit” (Justice) and “Schutz” (Protection) have angered many residents as crime figures have soared over the past years.Critics claimed it would have been a better idea to put more cops on the beats in the citys many crime hotspots instead of spending thousands of Euros on such a campaign.Vienna police chiefs Gerhard Pürstl and Karl Mahrers revelation that they withdraw six in seven applications put the sense of the campaign under doubt even further.