Knife violence continues to occupy the authorities. On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, Interior Minister Herbert Reul presented the situation report "Violence in public spaces - knife crime in North Rhine-Westphalia 2019 to 2023". A concept for combating knife violence was also presented.
In the situation report, the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia comprehensively evaluated knife crimes in recent years. The investigation focused on perpetrators, crimes, crime scenes and victims. Acts that occurred on public streets, in party hotspots or in restaurants were evaluated. Around 3,500 crimes were committed with a knife in 2023. This is an increase of 43% compared to the previous year. 15 people died after a knife attack. Many of the knife offenders are male, young and out and about in the evening and at night. Around half of the suspects are under 21 years old. Around 45 percent of the suspects do not have a German passport.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul: "Only the person holding the knife turns it into a weapon. We need to learn more about perpetrators, crimes and victims if we want to prevent these terrible knife attacks. The analysis tells us that knife violence is young and male. I am concerned that - measured against the proportion of foreigners in the population - suspects without German nationality are disproportionately represented. Arming oneself certainly has something to do with masculinity. With a knife, some may feel stronger and more invincible in the dark night. This medieval image of masculinity is not good for our society."
In order to curb knife violence, Minister Reul presented various measures that are individually implemented in the district police authorities, adapted to local circumstances and crime. Prevention work in refugee accommodation will be stepped up in future. In addition to individual bans on carrying weapons and weapons prohibition zones, this also includes mobile video surveillance and strategic searches.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul: "Each district police authority must see for itself what works individually on site. That's why it should also be analyzed and checked locally which measures work best. We don't want to dictate that here from Düsseldorf. There is no one right solution to knife violence. Different measures have to work together."
Note: This concept is expressly not a reaction to the terrorist attack in Solingen on 23.08.2024. It is not to be understood as a concept to combat Islamist terrorism, but refers in general to the increasing number of knife attacks in public spaces.