Farewell to Ahaus: Two police veterans are retiring!

Farewell to Ahaus: Two police veterans are retiring!

June 28, 2025 was a day full of emotions and memories at the Borken District Police Department. The two long-time police colleagues, First Police Chief Inspector Manfred Lütjann and Detective Chief Inspector Olaf Wanscheid, celebrated their departure from the police service. The district administrator Dr. Kai Zwicker and police department head Paul Albers came personally to wish both of them all the best for the future. A warm farewell, as it should be!

Manfred Lütjann, who can look back on an impressive 44 years of service, lived at the Borken district police authority for 20 of those years. For the last nine years he has headed the police station in Ahaus, which he shaped both because of his professionalism and his human nature. In addition to his service, he is known for organizing the annual government marathon. But it's not just his professional achievements that are remarkable: in his free time he also acts as Santa Claus, bringing joy to children and adults.

A valuable contribution to the border region

Olaf Wanscheid, who can look back on 35 years of service, has particularly distinguished himself through his work in the Cross-Border Police Team (GPT). This team was founded in 2008 and is made up of around 30 police officers, half from the Netherlands and half from Germany. Cooperation is essential to combat cross-border crime in the German-Dutch region. Over the last 13 years, the GPT has established itself as an essential part of police cooperation in this region, which was also recognized by the EUREGIO with the “People-to-People EUREGIO Prize”.

The team was able to attract attention worldwide with impressive successes: over 20,000 missions and more than 10,000 uncovered crimes and administrative offenses illustrate the importance of the project. This includes, among other things, the seizure of around 450 kg of narcotics with a market value of around 10 million euros and the detection of over 100 forgeries of documents. A particularly outstanding success was the arrest of a fugitive German child murderer in Enschede in December 2021.

European perspectives

The developments surrounding cross-border police cooperation are important not only locally, but also at the European level. The EU Commission recently proposed a new police cooperation code that is intended to improve cooperation between police forces in different member states. The aim is to close information gaps and make exchanges about cross-border investigations more efficient, especially since criminals often operate across borders. This is an important element for security within the EU.

The progressive ideas should not only be implemented within the framework of the cross-border police team, North Rhine-Westphalia also wants to set up three more police teams based on this model. A common goal remains the improved use of digital investigation techniques to further increase security in Europe.

Manfred Lütjann and Olaf Wanscheid are leaving big shoes to fill in the police and the community. Your commitment, both in service and beyond, will not be forgotten. A real farewell to honor the life's work of a long police career and at the same time a new beginning for both of them. Here’s to the future that awaits us in security work!