RND Exclusive: More violence against civil servants in railways and police

Berlin. The number of crimes against federal police officers and railway employees has steadily increased in recent years and is approaching a new record this year. This is according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior's response to a parliamentary question from the Left Party in the Bundestag. It has been made available to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

The number of crimes against federal police officers, such as resistance, physical assault, and threats, rose from 8,125 in 2022 to 10,726 in 2024. In the first four months of the current year, 3,879 such crimes were already committed. This would be 11,637 for the entire year. The Federal Police is primarily responsible for train stations, but also airports.

Offenses against Deutsche Bahn AG employees such as assault, dangerous bodily harm, and threats increased from 2,799 in 2022 to 3,151 in 2024. From January to April of this year, 1,244 such offenses were recorded. If the trend continues, the number would reach 3,732 by the end of the year. According to the response, the data is based on the Federal Police's Police Entry Statistics (PES).

Dietmar Bartsch, a member of the Left Party's Bundestag, told the RND: "Although almost 14,000 crimes were committed against railway employees and federal police officers last year, the first few months of the year point to another sad record. Unfortunately, more and more people see railway employees and police officers as the nation's whipping boys. This lack of inhibition is unacceptable and reflects poorly on the conditions in our country."

He added that Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is "primarily focusing on symbolic politics" in his first weeks in office. He added that he can no longer turn a blind eye to the numerous crimes against railway employees and federal police officers. Bartsch emphasized: "The Interior Minister should urgently present a plan before the summer break on how he intends to sustainably reduce the far too numerous crimes and restore greater recognition and appreciation."

Experts have been emphasizing for years that attacks against police officers, firefighters, and emergency services personnel are on the rise. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, an average of 290 police officers in Germany were subjected to violence every day in 2023. Railway employees are also affected. In some cases, laws have been tightened.