Crime and accident statistics

A look at the crime and accident statistics shows just how necessary and important professional police victim protection is. In 2022, there were 293,103 victims of qualified victim crimes alone (crimes against life, against physical integrity, against sexual self-determination and crimes against personal freedom) in NRW. If the range of offenses is extended to include domestic burglary, for example, the total number of victims with whom the North Rhine-Westphalian police come into contact each year is around one million - and this with a total of around 1.37 million recorded crimes. In the case of traffic accidents, the statistics for 2022 for NRW show 451 traffic fatalities and 12,514 serious injuries as a reason for victims and their relatives to receive support.

Victim protection has changed

For a long time, the situation of victims received little attention in society and professional and caring police treatment was not the norm. Victims were often merely important witnesses or carriers of evidence.

However, in recent decades there have been considerable and successful efforts to improve the position of victims both inside and outside of criminal proceedings. The Third Victims' Rights Reform Act in particular led to significant changes from 2012. These include the extension of accessory prosecution, the introduction of psychosocial trial support and the right to communication and translation when filing charges and during questioning.

Finding partner institutions

A milestone for improving victim protection and victim support was the founding of the victim protection organization "Weisser Ring" in 1976. Fixed cooperation agreements were concluded between it and the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice to improve the situation of victims. In addition, representatives of the regional associations, trauma centers, the judiciary, counseling centers, psychosocial trial support and social services work closely with the police in victim support networks at local and regional level. The police have been using a victim support database for almost twenty years to find suitable support services. All support facilities are entered into this database in a searchable form. For NRW, more than 1,600 support facilities can be found there.

Victims' reservations

Despite all the improvements, victims often do not make a report. This applies in particular to incidents in the family environment, among friends or at work. They often do so out of shame or fear of personal consequences. Feelings of guilt also play a role.

However, negative experiences of victims, such as

• a lack of sensitivity on the part of the police and judiciary,
• thoughtless statements that lead to feelings of guilt, also contribute to the lack of acceptance of reporting,
• a bare and unfriendly waiting area in office buildings,
• lack of presence of a person of the same sex when making a report or being questioned, although this is requested by the victim,
• meeting the perpetrator in office buildings, etc.

In spite of this, only a criminal complaint and the subsequent investigations usually lead to the result that the crimes have ended, that the victim finds out what circumstances led to the crime and what motives the perpetrator(s) had.

Only when these questions have been answered can a sense of security and justice be restored after the uncertainty.

Film clips on the requirements of victim protection

To ensure that victims and police officers in particular are better informed, the federal-state project group "Police Victim Protection" of the "Police Crime Prevention" commission has reworked the topic for crime victims and the police. The NRW State Office of Criminal Investigation is leading and managing the project. The "Information sheet for victims of crime" (AVR 32) (in German language) is handed out to every victim. It summarizes basic information in a compact format.

The working group also created film clips on the most important requirements in victim protection, such as:

• Becoming a victim - five case examples,
• The first steps,
• Investigations and criminal proceedings,
• Victims' rights,
• Extended victims' rights,
• Why report a crime?

The videos can be watched together with the victims or recommended for more in-depth information. They are between two and four minutes long and can be viewed individually or as a continuous film entitled "Helping victims - but how?"

Online service for victims of road traffic accidents with psychological consequences at https://hilfefinder.de

The "Police Victim Protection" circular

The Ministry of the Interior's circular, which came into force at the end of April 2019, implements the key findings and conclusions of the state working group "Crime Prevention and Victim Protection" and the legally standardized minimum standards from the Code of Criminal Procedure and the EU Directive on minimum standards for the rights, support and protection of victims of crime in the form of a binding definition of the tasks of police victim protection. In addition to clearly defined terms for victims, victim protection, victim support, victim aftercare and police victim protection, the police tasks in victim protection are presented in the decree based on the phases of an investigation procedure, oriented on the initial contact (usually the handling of the operation or

The role of the victim protection officer

Each district police department has a designated victim protection officer. They

• are the internal and external contact persons for the police,
• issue the guidelines and standards for police victim protection,
• support victim support in outstanding cases and in special police situations,
• administer local entries in the central "Victim Support Database",
• participate in official training on victim protection and victim support,
• participate in regional committees, networks, working groups and meetings,
• provide agency-specific information and media.