Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The Baden-Württemberg police are well prepared for climate adhesive. At the request of the German Press Agency, the Ministry of the Interior announced that the new forms of action of the Last Generation group had been dealt with very early on. The majority of the officers at the regional police headquarters could break up their tapes within 30 to 90 minutes. Conventional vegetable oils are mostly used as a solvent for the superglue used.
In Bavaria there are regional special units, "Glue-on-Teams" (to glue: to glue), in Munich and in Murnau, which are available around the clock to get the activists off the street quickly and to avoid traffic obstructions or quickly to dissolve. NRW is also arming itself against climate activists who stick to the asphalt unannounced. Around 10,000 police officers are being trained there to release activists who have been taped down. All patrol officers and officers from hundreds should take part in mandatory digital training.
In 2022, the police in Baden-Württemberg became aware of 31 blockades of road traffic, including 22 with activists sticking to the road surface. In another case, a person abseiled from a bridge over a roadway. There were no road users injured.
The police in Baden-Württemberg is also required by the protests in terms of personnel: In this context, they were on duty for around 1020 hours last year. Around 948 hours of this were due to traffic blockades. According to the head of the German police union, Ralf Kusterer, it is not the dissolution of the blockades that is exhausting, but the consequences of it in the form of traffic jams and diversions. According to a response from the ministry to an AfD request, the effort for this has so far corresponded to around 60,650 euros. The Baden-Württemberg police registered 130 suspects during the illegal actions, including some who were only there as companions.
According to the ministry in Stuttgart, in March 2022 police departments were provided with recommendations for action on tactical and legal issues of dealing with the tapes. The topic is also included in the training courses, including for the anti-conflict teams, which are used in particular at meetings.
Trade unionist Kusterer spoke out in favor of preventive detention based on the Bavarian model, which threatens people if they announce further actions. You have to be able to react "before the child falls into the well." According to the Bavarian Police Responsibilities Act, citizens can be detained for up to a month on the basis of a judicial decision in order to prevent the commission of an administrative offense of considerable public importance or a criminal offence. Most recently, climate activists in Bavaria were repeatedly taken into preventive detention.
Kusterer complained that the Baden-Württemberg regulation was not tailored to the facts of climate action, but to cases such as the arrest of a drunk or a person at risk of suicide. In addition, it is only limited to two weeks.
The Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, emphasizes that in Baden-Württemberg, too, detention could be suitable in individual cases in the event of previously announced actions in order to ward off imminent significant disruptions to public security. This happens in consideration of the fundamental right to freedom of assembly. "Nevertheless, in connection with the climate protests, detention does not appear to be expedient in the majority of cases," said Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU). Because the locations and times of the actions were unknown in advance, the crimes could not be permanently prevented.
By January 24, the anniversary of the first action in Berlin, the group itself had counted 1,250 street blockades throughout Germany, and around 800 people had taken part. Protesters have been taken into police custody more than 1,200 times.
