Traveling without a knife is obviously no longer possible for many people. During the Halloween operation, the Cologne police focused on the three weapons-prohibited zones (Ringe, Wiener Platz, Zülpicher Quarter) – with shocking results.
On Friday afternoon (November 1, 2024), the emergency services took stock of the large-scale operation, which lasted well into Halloween night.
Large-scale operation in Cologne: Police chief with plain text on the Halloween balance
“The outcome of the evening shows very clearly that good appeals fall on deaf ears for some. This makes our commitment all the more important to protect people from those who, despite all warnings, bring weapons to party,” said Police Chief Johannes Hermanns.
Cologne’s police chief had ordered the so-called strategic manhunt for the day of action. This means that the police can check bags or backpacks, for example, even without reason.
On Thursday afternoon, the “Wiener Platz priority group” had seized four knives, a manslaughter and drugs on the square within just 90 minutes.
From 8 p.m., 500 police officers closed the party mile on the Hohenzollernring with all side streets between Friesenplatz and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Park: identity checks!
Check out our picture gallery here:
In total, more than 13,000 identity checks were carried out in the two weapons ban zones on the Rings and in the Zülpicher district. The emergency services seized 38 weapons that the revelers had with them despite the ban.
These included 27 knives, a baton, a real-looking gun, a stun gun and four pepper sprays. For 11.11. Cologne’s weapons ban zone is to be expanded.
Arrests and expulsions on Halloween night in Cologne
“The evening ended with an arrest for two men,” said a spokesman for the Cologne police. 16 other people were taken into custody and 73 were sent off for the duration of the night.
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul, who visited the major inspection in Cologne, thanked the emergency services on site in the evening for their work.
