Hundreds of attacks on ATMs this year
The number of attacks is high and the perpetrators are brutal: The state criminal investigation offices have counted almost 500 ATM blasts this year. The damage to machines and buildings is usually even more serious than that caused by the thefts.
The number of ATMs blown up in Germany remains at a high level. Although several state criminal investigation offices (LKA) spoke of a slight decrease, there were more cases in other federal states. This was the result of a survey conducted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Nationwide data for 2023 is not yet available. More than 470 attacks have been reported so far.
As the investigators in the federal states use different cut-off dates as the basis for their figures, it is not yet possible to say whether the previous year's figure will be reached. In 2022, police across Germany registered a new high of 496 cases of ATM explosions. Investigators in Lower Saxony spoke of a significant decrease compared to previous years. By the beginning of December, there had been 36 attacks on ATMs. In comparison, there were a total of 68 attacks in 2022.
The Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation registered 21 ATM explosions by the end of the year, compared to 37 attacks in the previous year. The LKA in Saxony also reported a slight decrease in the number of cases. In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are also signs of a decline. Shortly before the end of the year, the LKA reported 153 attacks. If this remains the case, this would be a decrease of 16 percent compared to the record year of 2022, when 182 ATMs were attacked.
In contrast, there was an increase in the north. In Schleswig-Holstein, the LKA recorded a slight increase, but at the same time referred to fluctuations in the number of ATMs blown up in previous years. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 12 explosions had been counted by December 5, an LKA spokeswoman said. In 2022, the investigators did not record a single crime. There were five in 2021. According to the LKA, at least 40 devices have been destroyed in Baden-Württemberg since the turn of the year, in some cases with brute force. Last year, the robbers, who often come from the Netherlands, struck 34 times, according to the LKA. According to the authorities there, there were 60 attacks in Hesse up until shortly before the turn of the year - a record high.
Millions in damage from blasts
According to the German Insurance Association, last year's cases resulted in damage amounting to a good 110 million euros. The damage to equipment and buildings is usually more serious than the damage caused by the theft of money. There are around 55,000 ATMs nationwide.
More than a year ago, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser from the SPD invited people to a "Round Table on ATM Explosions". In June, she spoke out in favor of greater use of color adhesive cartridges in ATMs. She referred to experiences in the Netherlands, where the problem had been brought under control by coloring and gluing the money. In November, the police in Osnabrück reported several arrests and many searches in Germany and the Netherlands. There had already been several arrests of suspects from the Netherlands in the previous months.
There was a particularly spectacular case in Thuringia at the end of September: while fleeing from the police, four suspected ATM blasters crashed their car into a river in the district of Sömmerda. One of the men was recovered dead from the car. The three other suspects were caught.
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The issue of ATM criminality is not limited to Germany, as the Netherlands has also seen an increase in such incidents. Last year, robbers in Hesse, Germany, carried out a record 60 ATM explosions, according to authorities, while in 2021, there were only five such incidents.
The international aspect of this criminality was highlighted in November, when several arrests and searches were conducted in Germany and the Netherlands. The German Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, has expressed interest in implementing the use of color adhesive cartridges in ATMs, as has been effective in controlling similar incidents in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands, being a country that has experienced success in controlling ATM criminality, is a source of potential solutions for other countries, including Germany, in their pursuit of justice and security against such acts of international criminality.
Source: www.ntv.de
