Police union sees stress test on New Year's Eve
What some people celebrate as great fun is a nightmare for police and emergency services: another New Year's Eve is imminent. The police union warns against groups "for whom serious violence is normal". At least Barmer also has some good news.
In the run-up to New Year's Eve, the Federal Chairman of the Police Union (GdP), Jochen Kopelke, described the situation as a "stress test" and at the same time warned against certain "groups of perpetrators". "As in the past, New Year's Eve will be a test of endurance for the police, fire department and rescue services," Kopelke told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. At the same time, he warned against "alarmism". Kopelke emphasized: "Society is not becoming more and more violent." However, groups "for whom serious violence is something normal" can be identified.
With regard to the increased number of cases of assaults against police officers, the head of the GdP said: "We keep hearing from officers about experiences of violence on duty. And many say that operations are getting rougher." Police officers are "insulted and abused, and there are also repeated physical attacks". At the same time, the union is observing a growing sensitivity among officers to report incidents of insults or assaults and also to report them. Kopelke said: "That's good, because it shows that police officers take verbal or physical violence against them seriously and don't keep quiet about it."
Kopelke emphasized that "bans or harsher punishments would not help". The head of the GdP said: "The state does not win through repression. And violence against uniformed people cannot be solved by uniformed people - it is a task for society as a whole, and schools, the justice system, social work, local politics and neighborhood initiatives must all pull together."
Last year, there were riots in several places in Germany at the turn of the year. Emergency services were also massively attacked. In response, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser from the SPD proposed tightening the legal situation.
Fewer hospital treatments on New Year's Eve
However, a recent analysis by the health insurance company Barmer shows that fewer and fewer people have to be hospitalized for injuries, burns or excessive alcohol consumption on New Year's Eve. According to the study, which is based on extrapolated billing data from the past six New Year's Eve celebrations and is available to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, these cases have fallen nationwide from 8950 at the turn of the year 2018 to 6050 at the turn of the year 2023. This corresponds to a drop of around 32 percent.
After a slight increase at the turn of the year 2020 (9210 cases), according to the Barmer data, there was a particularly sharp decline of almost 3000 cases during the coronavirus pandemic, when parties and fireworks were banned or limited. However, even after the end of all protective measures, the number of hospital treatments on New Year's Eve continued to fall, albeit only slightly by 230 cases.
The study examined inpatient treatments that became necessary due to the consumption of too much alcohol or the suspected improper use of fireworks. These can include alcohol poisoning, head, eye or hand injuries and burns.
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- Despite the decrease in hospital treatments related to alcohol consumption and firework mishaps during New Year's Eve, the Police Union still views the event as a "stress test", citing concerns about potential violence from certain groups.
- In the wake of New Year's Eve violence incidents in previous years, the fire department was also among the emergency services that faced "massive attacks", leading to calls for stricter legal measures from the Federal Minister of the Interior.
- In the aftermath of another New Year's Eve, the police union expressed their hope that this year would mark a turn of the year without any incidents of violence from "groups for whom serious violence is normal", seeking a collective effort from society to curb such behavior.
Source: www.ntv.de
