I don't think that's a contradiction: Germans police themselves so there is not as much of a need to police each other. And perhaps we subconsciously assume tha

I don't think that's a contradiction: Germans police themselves so there is not as much of a need to police each other. And perhaps we subconsciously assume that someone who permitted themselves[1] to violate a rule did so for a good reason. [1] I don't think that's idiomatic English, which illustrates my point.