It is scientifically proven that an "intensive offender" steals from, robs, beats up or otherwise harms around 100 victims on average by the age of 25. This means: many crimes, many victims, high costs for society and few prospects for the offenders.
This is why the state initiative "Kurve kriegen" is now also being launched in the Heinsberg district with the aim of providing early help instead of late hardship.
On December 1, 2021, two crime prevention officers from the Heinsberg police and three educational specialists began their work as part of the state-wide initiative.
Comprehensive risk screening by the police and educational professionals enables particularly vulnerable children and young people, usually aged between 8 and 15, to be identified and addressed at an early stage.
In addition to criminal anomalies, the screening also looks in particular at the living conditions of the young people.
"The early, individual approach is important in order to bring about changes in behavior," explains Detective Chief Inspector Jakob Liebernickel, who is the police contact person for the project. "Kurve kriegen" is not an intensive offender concept, but starts when children are at risk of developing in this direction.
A network of police, social workers, youth welfare offices and schools provides the children and young people with educational and crime prevention support in order to give them prospects and enable them to participate in society.
Successes to date
In other cities and districts, some of the initiatives have already been running for several years - with success. Since 2011, almost 1,700 children and young people and their parents have gone through the program; almost 800 of them have successfully completed it. On average, four out of ten young people no longer commit a crime after completing the prevention program. The success rate is around 40 percent. For the remaining 60 percent, crimes are reduced by more than half. In the area of assault offenses, the rate is as high as 75 percent.
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