The Ministry of the Interior announces:
On Saturday, June 10, 2023, the North Rhine-Westphalian police, together with the federal police and forces from the municipal public order services, carried out a state-wide operation to combat violent crime, in particular knife violence.
The law enforcement officers checked a total of 4742 people in squares and train stations. A total of 46 knives were seized, 21 prohibited knives under the Weapons Act and 25 knives that are only prohibited within the weapons ban zones. These included one-handed knives, but also combat knives with blades up to 17 centimetres in length. A further 14 prohibited weapons and objects were also confiscated. These included batons, pepper sprays and soft air pistols. Police officers filed criminal charges in 73 cases (10 of which were violations of the Weapons Act) and misdemeanor charges in 123 cases (45 of which were violations of the Weapons Act or Weapons Prohibition Zone Ordinance). In 15 cases, people were provisionally arrested, 6 people were taken into custody and 179 people were banned from the premises. In Cologne, cars were seized, among other things. Over 1000 officers were deployed in six district police authorities: Aachen, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Münster. Interior Minister Herbert Reul accompanied the operations in Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne.
Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul: "Knives belong in the kitchen, not on the party mile. However, too many incidents at weekends in the well-known party zones paint a different picture. That is why our police are clearly showing the limits of what is permitted with this first night of controls against knife violence. We don't want to annoy anyone with these checks, but rather show that carrying knives is not normal and not wanted. A stabbing weapon is not a cell phone or a wallet and must therefore never be part of your normal personal belongings."
In Düsseldorf and Cologne, the police stepped up checks in the country's weapons ban zones - the party miles in the old town and on Cologne's Ringen and Zülpicher Straße. In Dortmund, the federal police had set up a temporary weapons ban zone at the main railway station.
Knife violence is increasingly a problem in city centers - where many people come together in the evening with alcohol. Due to several tragic incidents in recent weeks in which knives played a role, the police have now set a control focus. On the public holiday weekend from April 28 to May 1, 2023 alone, there were attacks with knives in eight cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Leverkusen, a 35-year-old man succumbed to his serious stab wounds.
In 2022, the police in North Rhine-Westphalia recorded a total of 5,081 cases involving a stabbing. A knife was used as a weapon in 4,191 cases. The "use" of the weapon also includes, among other things, threats with a knife The North Rhine-Westphalian police are also responding to the increased figures in the areas of violent crime and child and youth crime with these checks.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul sums up: "What the police collected last night alone is proof that there is work to be done. I don't understand why people go to parties armed or meet up with friends with a knife in their pocket. We can only appeal to people and their common sense: Don't go for a walk with a knife!"
For citizens' inquiries, please contact: Telephone 0211 871-01.
For journalistic inquiries, please contact the press office of the Ministry of the Interior, telephone 0211 871-1111.