Lethal Weapons: German With Breast Implants Wins Legal Battle to Join Police

A 32-year-old nurse has won a legal case to join the police force in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, after her application had been initially refused due to her breast implants.

A court in Gelsenkirchen, north Germany, has ruled that a 32-year-old woman should be allowed to serve in the North Rhine-Westphalia state police force despite her silicone breast implants, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday.

The woman, who is currently a nurse, had passed the police aptitude test in October 2013 but her application was rejected in spring 2014 on medical grounds.

"She was happy about (passing the test), but then she had to go for a medical examination. The police doctor came to the conclusion that she was unsuitable because of her breast implants," the women's lawyer Sven Ollmann told Bild.

German police regulations had banned women with breast implants from serving in the force because of increased risk of injury. 

However, the administrative court in Gelsenkirchen referred to a specially commissioned report from University Hospital of Bonn, which asserted the risk of complications as a result of the implants to be less than 20 percent. These include rupturing of the implant or fibrosis, the painful thickening or scarring of connective tissue.

According to Spiegel, there were no health grounds for the surgery, and the woman's case was helped by the fact that her implants had been inserted under the chest muscle.

Na, das wird vielen Frauen helfen;) Ein Meilenstein. #Silikonbrüste #Polizei https://t.co/IoGheE74qk

— Kristin Sabrowske (@Krissimas) 23 ноября 2016 г.

"​This will help a lot of women," wrote one German Twitter user.

Warum sollte eine Frau mit Silikonbrüsten nicht Polizistin werden dürfen??? 👮🏼🚓🚨🤔 https://t.co/AAMOsguZCN

— Sunna (@Iceland_123) 23 ноября 2016 г.

​"Why shouldn't a woman with silicone breasts be allowed to become a police officer," asked another.

Applicants to the police force in Germany must pass a range of physical requirements, including a height requirement of 1.63 for women and 1.68 for men, and the ability to swim well.

Regulations regarding the appearance of police officers differ across Germany. For example, in 2014 an appeal court in Kassel, in the state of Hesse, upheld the decision to refuse a woman entry to the police because of a large tattoo on her forearm. 

However, in 2012 a court in Aachen ruled that the state of North Rhine-Westphalia should not refuse an application to the police force because of a tattoo.