Turn of the year - New Year's Eve preparations: emergency services focus on de-escalation
Police officers and the emergency services also want to take a de-escalating approach on New Year's Eve in order to reduce the risk of attacks. "Basically, the respect threshold for emergency services has fallen," said a spokeswoman for the German Red Cross in Wiesbaden. The ambulance crews repeatedly experience complaints about the way they treat patients, for example.
According to her, the emergency services have long been trained to de-escalate such situations. "They also know when they should withdraw and call the police." At the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund in Frankfurt, employees are also trained accordingly, as Managing Director Matz Mattern said. However, there are no special preparations for special events such as New Year's Eve.
"Police officers are prepared for such attacks as part of their basic and advanced training," said the Ministry of the Interior in Wiesbaden, which also reported a drop in respect "from certain sections of society". In communication training courses, they practise how to de-escalate conflicts. Investments have also been made in protective equipment and all police headquarters have been equipped with bodycams. The aim is to prevent acts of violence as far as possible by making the video recording visible. If attacks did occur, they would be "documented in a legally secure manner". Officers are offered psychosocial support for aftercare, for example following assaults.
Last year, around 2370 assaults on police officers, firefighters, paramedics and emergency doctors were registered in Hesse. In almost 95 percent of cases, police officers were assaulted, the Ministry of the Interior announced the figures from the Police Crime Statistics (PKS) 2022. This mostly involved acts of resistance and physical assaults. Violence against police officers often occurred in connection with criminal offenses such as assault, theft, threats and insults.
According to the data, firefighters were rarely the target of attacks (8), while other rescue workers were hit in 112 of the registered cases. According to the PKS, a total of just under 2540 attacks on police, firefighters and emergency services were recorded in 2021, compared to 2120 cases in 2020. Figures for 2023 were not initially available.
A few days ago, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said with regard to New Year's Eve: "I am concerned that New Year's Eve could once again be a day on which we have to experience blind rage and senseless violence against police officers or rescue workers in some cities, for example," the SPD politician told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. There is now a general increase in violence on days like New Year's Eve, Faeser said.
Last New Year's Eve, for example, rescue workers were deliberately attacked in Berlin. Similar scenes also took place in other major cities.
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- To mitigate potential conflicts, emergency services in Wiesbaden emphasize de-escalation at the turn of the year, recognizing a decline in respect towards them.
- The Red Cross in Wiesbaden noticed an increase in complaints about emergency service workers' treatment of patients, necessitating de-escalation training.
- The Ministry of the Interior in Wiesbaden encourages police officers to undergo de-escalation training and invests in protective equipment and bodycams to deter attacks.
- In 2022, around 2370 assaults on emergency service workers, including police, firefighters, and paramedics, were reported in Hesse, with officers being the primary target.
- According to the Police Crime Statistics (PKS) 2022, firefighters were rarely attacked (8 times), whereas other rescue workers faced assaults in 112 registered cases.
- Aid organizations and the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund in Frankfurt also prepare their employees for de-escalation situations during special events like New Year's Eve.
- The encroachment on emergency services' duties and the rise in violence against them is a growing concern for federal interior minister Nancy Faeser, particularly during major festivals like New Year's Eve.
- Last year, rescue workers were deliberately attacked during New Year's Eve celebrations in Berlin, inspiring calls for improved disaster control and greater awareness of encroachment on emergency services rights.
Source: www.stern.de
