The Bundestag and Bundesrat passed the reform of the Federal Police Act on September 25, 2026: The Federal Police is now allowed to use automatic real-time facial recognition and AI-supported movement pattern recognition at train stations. The Bundestag achieved 322 votes in favor, surpassing the minimum required 316 yes votes – this was the second attempt for the amendment that has been discussed since 2021.
Federal Police receives facial recognition and movement analysis
The new law allows the Federal Police to use automated real-time facial recognition at train stations and in other areas of responsibility – but only in special danger situations. As an example, the coalition mentions the search for kidnapped or missing children, whose photos can be automatically matched with camera images from train stations and airports, as ZDFheute reports. The areas of responsibility of the Federal Police include not only train stations but also airports, border crossings, and federal rail transport.
In addition, there is a second, legally independent authority: The Federal Police will be able to recognize certain movement and object patterns that indicate a crime using video technology – for example, when someone pulls out a knife, swings their fist, or falls helplessly onto the tracks. This AI behavior analysis is regulated separately from biometric facial recognition and, according to the coalition, operates without reference to names.
The law consolidates further powers that are independent of AI use, reports beck-aktuell:
- Defensive measures against threatening drones
- a source telecommunications surveillance against extremism and smuggling crime
- the right of the Federal Police to apply for deportation detention and exit custody themselves
- random checks in weapon and knife prohibition zones at train stations and on trains, regardless of cause
Second attempt succeeds after failed summer vote
The reform is classified as a consent law and requires what is known as the chancellor majority in the Bundestag: at least 316 yes votes from all members, not just those present. A first attempt in July 2026 failed to reach this threshold, as documented by netzpolitik.org. The Union and SPD then requested a named repeat of the vote.
This has already been a multi-year effort: An earlier draft for a modernized Federal Police Act failed in the Bundesrat in 2021, and the law currently in effect largely dates back to 1994. Across three federal governments, a fundamental amendment was thus missing until the current coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD reintroduced the draft.
On September 25, 322 members voted for the law, 134 against it, and 118 abstained – the coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD thus cleared the necessary hurdle. The Greens and Left voted unanimously against it, while the AfD abstained, as stated in the press release from the Bundestag. The Bundesrat approved the consent-requiring reform on the same day, as indicated by the session report of the Länder chamber.
The law will come into force one day after its announcement in the Federal Law Gazette. A specific calendar date for this had not yet been determined at the time of publication.
Coalition defends reform, opposition warns of infringement of fundamental rights
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) justified the reform by stating that the existing regulations largely date back to 1994, and the threat situation has changed significantly since then. CDU interior politician Alexander Throm added that train stations “must not be places of fear.”
Green interior politician Irene Mihalic countered that the coalition is deeply infringing on fundamental rights with biometric real-time surveillance. Left party member Clara Bünger warned that comprehensive surveillance would become the norm for millions of people. Both factions also criticized that earlier, civil rights-oriented provisions from older drafts had been removed from the final text.
The federal government is following suit with the reform, what individual states have already been testing: Berlin has been using AI video surveillance at Kottbusser Tor since August 2026, although without facial recognition. Unlike the Berlin state regulation, the new federal law applies nationwide and includes an additional, more far-reaching authority with biometric facial recognition. Civil rights organizations such as the Society for Freedom Rights have successfully challenged similar state police laws in the past before the Federal Constitutional Court. It remains open whether a constitutional complaint will also be filed against the new Federal Police Act and on what day it will specifically come into force.
