Around 25,000 rounds of ammunition gone: consequences announced
Following the disappearance of almost 25,000 rounds of ammunition for police sport shooting, Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) has acknowledged shortcomings and announced consequences. "We are taking a very close look and have now taken the first steps to close the gaps," said Stübgen in the state parliament's interior committee on Wednesday. "The State Court of Auditors was right that something was wrong. As a minister, I hate to admit that." The ministry called in the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt (Oder), which is investigating unknown persons.
The State Court of Auditors checked the police shooting range and found inconsistencies regarding consumption. It informed the Ministry of the Interior in January. In November, Stübgen - triggered by audits by the Court of Audit - reported around 4,400 rounds of missing ammunition when the public prosecutor's office was informed.
However, the authority also scrutinized sighting shoots and competitions since 2017. The whereabouts of around 24,900 rounds of ammunition are still unclear - this only became public with the new ACA report this week.
Some inconsistencies are now to be rectified: A specialist supervisor for shooting was also in charge of ammunition in the central police service. This personal union had been removed, said the President of the Police University, Heike Wagner. In addition, there was a lack of evidence of who had fired what. Control obligations had therefore been introduced. Training shooting for police marksmen has been suspended for the time being.
Andrea Johlige from the Left Party accused Stübgen of a cover-up. SPD MP Andreas Noack spoke of organizational failure. Court of Auditors Director Thomas Kersting said that the ministry could have acted earlier after receiving information from the authority. However, State Secretary of the Interior Markus Grünewald said that an internal audit report from February had revealed that the information on ammunition was plausible, but that the proof of consumption was inadequate. It only became clear in September that the Court of Auditors had been right. It is unclear how many shooters were affected. According to the Court of Audit, only two officers responded to the questioning - it is doubtful whether this was sufficient to provide a picture of the situation.
In response to the State Court of Auditors' findings, the Police University's President, Heike Wagner, revealed that the role of the specialist supervisor for shooting, who was also responsible for ammunition in the central police service, was split, aiming to rectify the inconsistencies. The disappearance of around 25,000 rounds of ammunition for police sport shooting necessitated the involvement of the Parliament, specifically the state parliament's interior committee, as Interior Minister Michael Stübgen acknowledged shortcomings and announced consequences.
Source: www.dpa.com
