6715 registered cases
Warnings about the danger of stabbing weapons have not only been issued since the stabbing murder of a girl in Illerkirchberg. It is controlled, it is punished – but the number of attacks continues to rise.
The number of crimes involving knives is increasing in Baden-Württemberg. Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa/Symbolbild
from dpa
7 hours ago 2 minutes 6 hours ago
In Schwäbisch-Gmünd a man stabs his neighbor, in Rheinstetten another threatens a cashier in the supermarket and in Bietigheim-Bissingen a young man is said to have stabbed his mother. Three bloody acts from the past few days, in all of them a knife is pulled out and it is not uncommon for a person to be lying on the ground at the end.
Three of the thousands of cases in which people were attacked with knives last year and were often injured or killed. Despite all the bans, controls and punishments, knives are being pulled out and used more and more frequently in Baden-Württemberg. After a sharp increase last year, the number of these crimes in the South West has continued to rise over the last twelve months.
6715 registered cases in Baden-Württemberg
According to the so-called security report from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, a total of 6,715 cases were registered in 2022 in which a knife played a role – in that an attacker either had it with him or used it. In 2,727 cases the knife was used in an attack.
Of these, 1,861 cases are considered so-called violent crime, i.e. serious cases of bodily harm, manslaughter or even murder. A total of 19 people were killed by knife attacks. Hardly any perpetrators escaped unscathed, as almost 87 percent of knife attacks were solved, according to the report.
However, this does not seem to be a deterrent: “There are signs of an increase in knife attacks and an increase in the number of people injured in them in 2023,” the Interior Ministry has now announced. This also applies to violent crime, which, however, has only increased slightly over the past five years.
It is a completely wrong approach to security if you think you can protect yourself from attacks with a knife.
Thomas Strobl
Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg
Knives are easy and can be found almost anywhere – and they can be extremely dangerous because they can be carried concealed and used suddenly. “For some people, a knife gives them a feeling of power or supposed protection from others,” says the safety report for last year.
However, State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) warns: “It is a completely wrong approach to security if you think you can protect yourself from attacks with a knife.” The opposite is the case: “It is not uncommon for this to unnecessarily exacerbate conflicts, often with devastating consequences.”
New ban rule should help
The Interior Minister sees an opportunity for municipalities and police in the fight against knife crimes in the new prohibition zones, in which neither knives nor other weapons are allowed to be carried. These areas can be set up in cities since October 2022. Stuttgart has had the first of its kind since the beginning of February. On weekend nights and before public holidays, knives are not allowed to be carried within the city ring or in the city garden at the Uni-Campus Stadtmitte between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Knives with a blade longer than four centimeters are prohibited. Anyone who has an unauthorized knife in the prohibited zone in Stuttgart is committing an administrative offense – the fine is at least 200 euros.
If the new rule is not followed several times, up to 10,000 euros can be due. The weapons ban zone in the state capital ends on February 3, 2025. “We want to improve both public safety and people’s sense of security,” Mayor Frank Nopper (CDU) announced before the start.
Weapons ban in Mannheim city center
There has also been a ban on weapons in Mannheim city center for several weeks. On weekends and before public holidays, larger knives and other weapons are not allowed to be carried in a zone from the Old Mess Square through part of the city center to Mannheim Central Station.
The city wants to respond to the increased street crime. According to police crime statistics in Mannheim, cases of knife attacks increased from 2021 to 2022. According to the police, this development increased massively, especially in the summer of 2023.
2023-12-27 00:07:25
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