Kassel/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - After attacks on emergency services on New Year's Eve, the Hessian State Fire Brigade Association and the Police Union (GdP) called for consistent action against violent offenders. The willingness to use violence against emergency services has now become a permanent issue, according to a statement by Norbert Fischer, President of the State Fire Brigade Association on Monday. "But this scale has taken on a new dimension." Sneaky attacks by violent groups were "definitely not possible".
In Dreieich, for example, firefighters were attacked with irritant gas on the way back from the mission. In Frankfurt, too, firefighters and police were shot at with pyrotechnics, according to the association. In some places, the disrupters had also erected barricades that made operations unnecessarily difficult.
"We demand faster and, above all, more consistent action by the judiciary, even if this often means the maximum penalty," it said with a view to the tightening of criminal law in the case of attacks on emergency services. The GdP also expected the judiciary to "quick signals and speedy handling of the proceedings" in the event of attacks on emergency services. "The whole range of facts must be exhausted," it said.
From GdP's point of view, the discussion about bans on firecrackers does not contribute to preventing attacks on emergency services. Firecracker ban zones could help to "pacify" the corresponding parts of the city on New Year's Eve, according to GdP state chairman Jens Mohrherr. "But an eroding society, as it is currently evident, must be countered in a sustainable manner and not with more and more blatant bans."
