Police - Minister wants to step up checks on missing ammunition
Following the discovery of around 25,000 rounds of missing ammunition in police sport shooting, Brandenburg's Minister of the Interior Michael Stübgen (CDU) wants to extend the checks. "I have instructed that we check every single cartridge and go back to 2014 to do so," Stübgen told the German Press Agency. "Since 2014, there has been a double function in the sensitive area of ammunition issue that should never have existed. We have corrected that. Sport shooting must be safe." His goal is for sport shooting to be able to take place in January. This would allow marksmen to prepare for next year's competitions.
In November, the State Court of Auditors discovered that around 25,000 rounds of ammunition had gone missing from police sport shooting since 2017. The State Office of Criminal Investigation is investigating the case of around 4,400 rounds of missing ammunition for police marksmen in 2022. A specialist supervisor for shooting was also responsible for ammunition in the central police department. According to the ministry, the personnel union was abolished. There was also a lack of evidence of who had fired what. Control obligations were then introduced.
"We have no evidence that this was criminal activity," said Stübgen with regard to the missing ammunition from 2022. "But we can't rule it out 100 percent. That's why we filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor's office two months ago."
The Minister of the Interior was criticized not only by the opposition in the state parliament, but also from the ranks of the coalition partner SPD. SPD interior politician Uwe Adler had accused him of "disinterest or calculation with regard to the investigation" into the whereabouts of the ammunition and demanded immediate clarification.
The minister defended himself and referred to the consequences. "We have analyzed and eliminated the weak points in the documentation," said Stübgen. "The dual control principle has been tightened up so that the documentation of every ammunition handover is now documented by the signatures of both parties involved. This means that the handover remains clearly traceable at a later date."
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- The missing ammunition issue in police sport shooting occurred in the German state of Brandenburg.
- Despite the criticism from the SPD, Michael Stübgen, the CDU's Interior Minister of Brandenburg, has taken steps to address the issue, including a thorough check of all cartridges dating back to 2014.
- The investigation into the disappearance of around 4,400 rounds of ammunition for police marksmen in 2022 is being handled by the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Brandenburg.
- Stübgen, in reference to the missing ammunition from 2022, stated that while there's no evidence of criminal activity, they can't rule it out entirely.
- The turn of the year is an important time for marksmen in Brandenburg, as it allows them to prepare for next year's competitions, including events held in the city of Potsdam.
Source: www.stern.de
