page_title: 2015–16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany
section_title: Cologne police chief discharged
hierarchical_section_title: 2015–16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany / Responses (in actions) / Cologne police chief discharged
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Pressekonferenz im Rathaus Köln zu den Vorgängen in der Silversternacht 2015/16 Foto: Oberbürgermeisterin Henriette Reker (links), Polizeipräsident Wolfgang Albers (Mitte)
context_page_description: During the 2015–16 public New Year's Eve's celebrations in Germany, over 1,250 women in at least twelve cities reportedly were sexually assaulted with 24 of them raped, in most cases by men of non-European background. In many of the incidents, women in public places had been surrounded and assaulted by groups of men. The Bundeskriminalamt confirmed in July 2016 that 1,200 women had been sexually assaulted on that New Year's night.
  By 4 January 2016, the German national media followed by international media reported that in Cologne – as later appeared to hold for all affected cities – the sexual assaulters had mostly been described as 'north African' or 'Arab' or 'dark skinned' or 'foreign', and public debates arose or were invigorated about the possible role of refugees in these assaults; about closing the German borders for further generous immigration; securing the Schengen area borders against unchecked immigration; debates about Islam and Muslims; violence against women; police vigilance; racism; Germany's failure to integrate the thousands of young immigrant men; and about media and authorities trying to cover-up the crimes of immigrants.
context_section_description: Cologne's chief of police Wolfgang Albers was soon criticized, also bearing in mind his questionable performance in two affairs in previous years. On 6 January 2016, the FDP's leader Christian Lindner bluntly stated: "Cologne needs a new start for security, also regarding personnel".
  On 8 January, even the German Police Trade Union's president Rainer Wendt severely criticized Albers, saying the chief of police  together with the police force under his responsibility had caused a communication disaster by first stating the New Year's Eve had passed calmly, later having to admit this first information had been wrong. The same day, Cologne's mayor Reker accused Albers of holding information from her, not informing her that 58% of the first 31 suspects of various offences in the New Year's Eve had indeed appeared to be asylum seekers. Later on 8 January 2016, the North Rhine-Westphalian interior minister Ralf Jaeger gave Wolfgang Albers an early retirement, other sources say it was mayor Reker who pensioned Albers off.
caption: Cologne mayor Henriette Reker (l.) and Cologne police chief Wolfgang Albers (c.) in the press conference in Cologne, 5 January 2016
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