German Sharia Police and Federal Boob Inspectors

We were going to praise German officials for their calm and even keeled handling of an incident this past weekend in the city of Wuppertal.

But it was not to be.

First things first: On Saturday night, a group of muslim young men put on some orange reflective vests, suck "Shariah Police" (not the German word Polizei) on the back, and wandered through the streets of Wuppertal handing out flyers and tried to engage pedestrians in conversations about islamist cultural rules, notably no booze, no drugs, no prostitution, no public dance, and so forth.
They were stopped by police, cited for violating public assembly law and let go.

Police announced increased patrols, officials stated that, of course, no Sharia law rules are recognized in Germany.

Initially, the media took it well, pointing out it was more of a publicity stunt than anything. Some mentioned similar walkabouts in London, which did not make headlines in Germany. 

By Monday morning, German tabloid Bild picked up a statement by the Bavarian interior secretary: ...calls Sharia-Polizei "declaration of war", and BILD made sure you see this declaration by printing it in red.
Not reported anywhere near as brightly were two firebombings of mosques in Germany in the past four weeks.


Note that the Bavarian interior secretary used "Sharia-Polizei", which gives the stunt a much more official sounding quality.  

But shouldn't you use the German term, after all this is Germany?

No, you should not.

German media and the public use the English term "police" in many contexts, for instance, "fashion police". No German, even if they hardly speak English will use "Fashion Polizei".
During carnival, thousands of Germans dress up as cops, in U.S. style costumes, with "Police" and a badge.

To be sure, the only thing reflective about the men were the vests. Even in calmer days, it is not a good idea to put on some bright distinguishing dress and play at muslim fashion police.

At a time when the terrorists of ISIS are getting all the headlines left over by the Ukraine conflict, a stunt like this is just dumb. But the reaction of the interior secretary of one of Germany's biggest states - not the state where the event occurred - appears out of proportion.

Having a gaggle of Jehovah's Witnesses ring the door bell and start their spiel is as much of an inconvenience to the blogster as aggressive panhandlers or muslim fashion police.

And Federal Boob Inspectors, you ask?

No, the boob inspectors are not click bait. They also come as "bust" inspectors or "bra" inspectors, depending on the level of real or supposed frivolity the wearers intended. To the guys wearing these pins at Renaissance Faires across the U.S., the two crucial things about the pin are that the acronym is FBI and that the "B" resolves to any of the words in use for bosom.

So, what reception would a group of Federal Boob Inspectors encounter in a German pedestrian zone on a Saturday night?

It's anybody's guess, and we will certainly not test this one out.

Here is a screenshot of the Bild headline.