Wiesbaden (dpa / lnw) - Contrary to the trend in the federal government and in most other states, the number of officially recorded acts of violence against police officers in North Rhine-Westphalia fell in 2021. A total of 7,512 cases were recorded in the most populous federal state, 6.3 percent fewer than in the previous year, according to figures published by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on Thursday. A decrease was only reported in three other countries, nationwide the number of cases rose by 1.8 percent.
In absolute numbers, NRW was the federal state with the most cases. Converted to the number of inhabitants, however, there was less violence against police officers only in Bavaria, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.
According to the definition of the BKA, officers do not have to be physically injured for an act to be recorded as violence against police officers. According to the BKA, it is sufficient "if action is taken against the public official out of general hostility towards the state or out of personal motives or for other reasons".
Acts of resistance against law enforcement officials also fall into this category. In NRW they made up around 60 percent of the cases. A good 27 percent were physical attacks. But there was also one murder and one robbery as well as 349 dangerous and serious bodily injuries.
In 2021, the BKA also recorded 488 attacks on fire and rescue services in NRW with 718 victims. This is - again contrary to the national trend - slightly less than in 2020 (496 cases with 749 victims).
The LKA in NRW had already published figures on violence against police officers at the end of August, which differ slightly from the figures now published by the BKA due to a changed database.
