Crime - Bavaria's police officers are more often victims of crime
Bavaria's police officers are increasingly becoming victims of crime themselves while on duty. With 2967 injured police officers in Bavaria in 2022, including 22 seriously injured, a new sad record has been set since the situation reports were created in 2010, announced Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) in Munich on Tuesday. As the inhibition threshold for attacks is obviously continuing to fall, he does not expect the situation to ease in 2023 either, on the contrary: "Initial trends show that this year in Bavaria we unfortunately have to lament a further increase in violence against police officers and other emergency services."
"We will never allow those who ensure the safety of us all to be turned into 'whipping boys'," emphasized Herrmann. He called for a "minimum level of respect for all emergency services". Such attacks are not only physically hurtful, but also deeply demoralizing for those who do their best to help others. "We must do our best to protect those who take the fall for our safety every day." Every perpetrator of violence will therefore be consistently prosecuted.
In Herrmann's view, it is "absolutely right and necessary" that the minimum sentence for assaulting police officers has been raised to three months' imprisonment. There is a wide range of support and protection available for police officers affected. For example, doctors, psychologists and counselors are available around the clock. Intensive basic and advanced training is also very important, for example regular operational training with state-of-the-art training equipment.
To better protect officers, the Free State has also invested more than 120 million euros in recent years in equipping Bavarian police forces and thus also in their protection. This includes ballistic protective equipment, batons and new service weapons. There are also currently more than 1800 bodycams.
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Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister from the CSU in Bavaria, expressed concern about the rising criminality against police officers in the region during a press conference in Munich. Despite the investments of over 120 million euros in equipping the Bavarian police forces with protection gear, offensive actions against emergency services continue to increase, resulting in a new record of injured officers in 2022. In response, Herrmann advocated for a minimum three-month imprisonment sentence for assaulting police officers and highlighted the availability of support and protection resources, such as around-the-clock medical, psychological, and counseling services.
Source: www.stern.de
