Wiesbaden/Schwerin (dpa/mv) - In no other state has the number of officially recorded acts of violence against police officers increased as much as in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to data published on Thursday by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden, 912 such attacks were registered in the north-east in 2021. That was 216 or 31 percent more than the year before. Nationwide, an increase of 1.8 percent to 39,649 cases was recorded. The clearance rate was 97.6 percent.
According to the definition of the BKA, however, officers do not have to be physically injured for an act to be recorded as violence against police officers. "It is sufficient if action is taken against the official out of general hostility towards the state or out of personal motives or for other reasons," says the federal situation report. Acts of resistance against law enforcement officials also fall into this category.
According to the BKA, 481 of the violent acts recorded in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were acts of resistance, but also 298 physical attacks on police officers, 22 of which were rated as serious or dangerous bodily harm and once as attempted manslaughter. In addition, 77 threats, 15 coercion and 1 deprivation of liberty were included in the statistics.
According to the information, 88,626 police officers nationwide were victims of an act of violence. This corresponds to an increase of 4.5 percent within one year. Among other things, 30 attempted murder or manslaughter offenses (2020: 63) with 55 police officers as victims (2020: 114) were counted, as well as more than 1500 cases of dangerous and serious bodily harm.
In addition, the BKA recorded more than 19,000 acts of resistance, in which a good 46,400 police officers were listed as victims. This corresponds to almost half of all violent crimes recorded in the statistics. The Federal Criminal Police Office also registered 2160 attacks against helpers from the fire brigade or rescue service with 3083 victims. According to the BKA, these numbers are also above the level of 2020.
