The German equivalent of our FBI, the Landeskriminalamt, was determined to catch a thief who was stealing their klopapier (toilet paper). Now that’s what I call establishing a real priority. After all, they couldn’t have their agents running around with stained underwear.
OPERATION BOG ROLL (AKA KLOPAPIER): GERMANY’S FEDERAL POLICE CARRY OUT 18-MONTH SURVEILLANCE OPERATION COMPLETE WITH AN ASSIGNED OFFICER … TO CAPTURE A TOILET PAPER THIEF
No evidence of theft was found after police spent ‘thousands’ to catch the office’s toilet paper (translated into German ‘klopapier’) thief
By Allan Hall
Mail Online
January 18, 2013
A department of Germany’s equivalent of the FBI installed surveillance cameras and assigned a surveillance officer to capture a suspected toilet roll thief on their premises.
The Landeskriminalamt, which track white collar criminals, organized gangs and terrorists, spent thousands on the investigation after cleaners reported an ‘unusually high’ usage of toilet paper.
A secret camera was installed in the stairwell of House 5 in Waltersleben, Thuringian and a detective who used to listen to covert telephone recordings of crooks was assigned to overall command of ‘Operation Bog Roll,’ as the media have dubbed it.
Cleaners in the building reported that rolls were going missing from their delivery bags when left unattended.
However, once the cameras were set up, and the bags containing the prize were left unguarded, the investigation failed to catch anyone stealing the loot.
The public prosecutor’s office in nearby Erfurt was informed of the secret op which ran for a year-and-a-half but was suspended in 2011.
It has only come to light now after an internal inquiry ruled the ‘personal rights’ of all employees in the building had been violated.
Officials who sanctioned the covert operation would have needed the permission of a judge to make it legal - something they didn’t do.
Lawyers have argued that the case is of 'petty crime' and the use of surveillance does not match up to the the thefts.
Germany’s main police trade union has now demanded an independent commission of enquiry about the affair and disciplinary proceedings against those who sanctioned it.
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