Security - Reul draws positive EM conclusion
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) drew a positive assessment regarding security during the European Football Championship. It was mostly peaceful during the matches, fan and party miles, according to the Interior Ministry. Only sporadically were incidents reported.
"The 'Safety Team' delivered", said Reul. "The fact that the tournament largely went peacefully was a team effort of the police forces of the federal states, the Federal Police, the security agencies and our international colleagues." Good preparation paid off: "The measures and concepts we have developed in the past years were exactly what a European Championship in 2024 needed."
Preliminary reports indicate that approximately 683 criminal offenses related to the European Championship were registered in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 211 cases, it concerned violations of the Explosives Act with punishable pyrotechnics. The police counted 154 bodily injuries, 87 breaches of the peace, 28 burglaries, 31 insults and 25 damage to property. 210 people were temporarily taken into custody.
Twenty of the overall 51 matches took place in North Rhine-Westphalia. Four of the ten venue cities were in North Rhine-Westphalia: Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne and Gelsenkirchen. The last match in NRW was the semi-final between England and the Netherlands on a Wednesday evening at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion.
- The European Championship matches held in North Rhine-Westphalia were primarily overseen by the regional police forces, including those from the Interior Ministry headed by CDU's Herbert Reul.
- Despite the large number of attendees for the European Football Championship, the security forces managed to maintain inner security, ensuring that the event in North Rhine-Westphalia remained largely incident-free.
- The European Championship in North Rhine-Westphalia saw a total of 683 criminal offenses reported, with a significant portion involving violations of the Explosives Act and the use of punishable pyrotechnics.
- The American team, who were one of the participants in the European Championship, had their matches played in two different cities in North Rhine-Westphalia: Duesseldorf and Gelsenkirchen.
- After a thorough evaluation, Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, praised the collaboration between various police forces, security agencies, and international colleagues, which ultimately contributed to the success and peacefulness of the Eastern European Championship in the region.
