Police stations The monitoring visit to Wolkersdorf police station showed that between mid-March and mid-April 2020 a third of the staff was not available. The examination by the NPM indicated that the police security of the population in the district of this police station was at no time in danger. The police stations in the surrounding area took over some of the work. The holiday ban imposed in direct connection with the first lockdown increased the staffing level. In combination with the unanimously reported decrease in the normal workload by all of the interviewed officers, the additional effort required to support the health authorities (monitoring quarantine rules) could be easily managed. Exemplary handling of an ill detainee On their monitoring visits, the commissions observed that for the protection of the detainees against infection with COVID-19 the covers in the detention rooms were changed after every time they were used. Cells and cars were also disinfected after use. The commission praised the handling of a detainee displaying flu symptoms and a temperature on their visit to Kopernikusgasse police station. A PCR test was carried out immediately. The affected person was detained in a single cell until there was a negative test result. The law enforcement officer involved went into self-isolation. 2.7.3 Monitoring priorities In 2018 the NPM defined the two monitoring priorities of “Notification and alarm protection in detention rooms” and “Fire protection”. In the implementation of the CPT standards (CPT/Inf/E [2002] 1 – version 2010, German, p. 16, margin No. 48), according to which persons in police custody shall be able to contact the guards at all times, Section 4 (5) of the Detention Regulation (Anhalteordnung) stipulates that equipment for notifying the guards shall be available in all cells. This provision is usually fulfilled by installing an alarm button. The commissions have been regularly examining the proper functioning and visibility of alarm buttons in detention rooms for years. In so doing, they also checked whether the call system used by the law enforcement officers can be deactivated. In 2017 the NPM addressed the Federal Ministry of the Interior regarding the topic of compliance with organisational fire protection in police stations. The Ministry referred to the amendment of the Federal Regulation on Workplaces in 2015 and the statutory creation of evacuation officers. The fire protection staff and associated organisation within the Police Departments were subsequently restructured and announced per decree. An additional decree on this topic was enacted in 2018. 155