Faeser assures "utmost vigilance" on New Year's Eve
Faeser announced a "crackdown" on attacks against police officers. "Our emergency services have experienced time and again that blind rage is carried out on their backs. The response to this must be a crackdown by the police, but also by the judiciary."
The response to the increased threat situation in recent weeks has already been a massive crackdown on the Islamist scene, "and we will continue to act in the same way", she added. A pro-Palestinian rally planned for New Year's Eve was banned by the authorities on Saturday afternoon. The reason given was the fear of criminal acts.
In Berlin alone, more than 4,000 police officers are expected to be on duty on New Year's Eve. According to Faeser, the state's forces will be reinforced by around 300 officers from the federal police, as well as a further 500 officers to secure railroad stations.
On New Year's Eve a year ago, emergency and rescue services were massively attacked in Berlin and other cities. In some cases, the police had to be deployed to protect firefighters from attacks while extinguishing fires.
There are fears of renewed riots this year. The police and fire department are preparing for numerous operations. On Thursday, the Berlin police and fire department appealed to the public in a video published on the X platform (formerly Twitter). "Don't attack us. Don't shoot us with firecrackers, rockets or alarm guns," it said.
There were already several incidents in Berlin in the run-up to New Year's Eve. On Friday evening, fireworks were thrown into a subway station in the Kreuzberg district and an attempt was made to set fire to a Christmas tree with a burning garbage can. Several arrests were made. Previously, firefighters had been shot at with pyrotechnics by unknown persons when they tried to extinguish a burning firework battery.
In Cologne, too, emergency services were reinforced once again after what the police described as a "very serious warning". On New Year's Eve, around 1,000 officers are to be deployed for "special measures" alone.
The police will prepare themselves "so that we can counter possible attacks", said head of operations Martin Lotz. Police officers with submachine guns may also be patrolling the city. There had been indications of possible plans to attack Cologne Cathedral. It has since been closed apart from times of worship. One suspect, who is said to have links to the jihadist militia Islamic State, was taken into custody.
There are also bans on the use of pyrotechnics this year in some towns affected by flooding. In other places, the population has also been urged to refrain from using fireworks so as not to put additional strain on the emergency services.
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Source: www.stern.de
