Compare weapon collections. - Hamburg's Criminal Investigation Agency holds approximately 4,400 weapons.
The Hamburg Police Department owns over 4,400 firearms and about 50,000 bullets in their weapons testing facility. This collection is crucial for solving weapon and ammunition-related cases and creating incident reports according to a police spokesperson. Police technicians use this extensive collection to determine whether a bullet found at a crime scene matches the suspect's weapon or if any tampering has occurred. Having a diverse range of weapons, with different designs, makes and years helps with these analyses.
Adding to the collection is regulated by an internal service rule in Hamburg. Some handguns, revolvers, and rifles come from closed criminal cases where police confiscated the weapons. Only when a better preserved example of the same type is available do weapons in the collection get removed. Ammunition has not been disposed of since 2020, it was indicated. This ammunition is only utilized in essential investigations.
Recent attention has been given to comparative weapon collections after news emerged in May that Saxony-Anhalt's Ministry of the Interior had wrongly accepted weapons and ammunition into their state criminal police office's collection since 2019. Furthermore, the Magdeburg Criminal Police Office had just disposed of around 50,000 rounds of ammunition before an impending audit by the state auditor's office.
The amount of comparison weapons in the collections of state criminal police offices widely varies with some having only a few hundred pieces. The largest collections are reportedly found at the state criminal police offices in Lower Saxony (9,400 objects) and Bavaria (8,000).
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The LKA Hamburg's weapon collection, which comprises approximately 4,400 firearms, is significantly larger than some other state criminal police offices. This collection is vital for comparison in weapon and ammunition-related crimes, as police technicians use it to determine weapon matches and tampering. The Hamburg Police Department also possesses over 50,000 bullets for these investigations.
Both the Hamburg Police Department and LKA Hamburg have strict regulations for adding and removing weapons from their collection. Weapons are often confiscated from closed criminal cases and replaced when a better-preserved example is found. It was indicated that no ammunition has been disposed of since 2020 and is only used in essential investigations.
The comparison weapon collection at the LKA Hamburg helps in solving complex cases by allowing for weapons and ammunition comparisons. This extensive collection, which includes various designs, makes, and years, is crucial for creating incident reports and determining tampering occurrences.
Cases of incorrect weapon and ammunition acceptance in other state criminal police offices have raised concerns about the need for proper collection management. Recently, Saxony-Anhalt's Ministry of the Interior was revealed to have accepted weapons and ammunition wrongly into their collection since 2019, and Magdeburg Criminal Police Office disposed of 50,000 rounds before an impending audit.
Comparatively, state criminal police offices have varied collections of comparison weapons, with Lower Saxony reporting the largest collection (9,400 objects) and Bavaria having around 8,000. Other offices may have fewer weapons, but each collection plays a vital role in cracking cases involving firearms.
