Knife attacks: These four measures could help

She stood up indiscriminately and injured 18 people in a few minutes, some seriously: the killing spree of a mentally ill German at Hamburg Central Station on Friday evening caused horror nationwide.

The crime is part of a series of attacks in the past few weeks throughout Germany where knives were used. On Thursday, a 13-year-old at a Berlin school had seriously injured a twelve-year-old with a knife. On Saturday there was a dispute among homeless people in Düsseldorf, in the course of which a man stabbed two other men.

The larger threat situation is not just a feeling. According to the latest crime statistics, cases of dangerous and serious bodily harm with knives actually increased drastically last year – almost eleven percent. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of attacks with knives even increased by almost 50 percent. In the meantime, 13 percent of all violent crimes are committed with knives. A little less than half of the perpetrators are non-Germans.

How can knife power be contained? Here are four most important measures that are currently being discussed.

There are already knife ban zones in many places. They were introduced in North Rhine-Westphalia at the end of 2021: In the old town of Düsseldorf, it is about to carry knives at around the clock at the time (on weekends, in some places). So far, some federal states like Brandenburg have been without it. Only the wearing of knives at certain events or in local transport is prohibited there.

The CDU/CSU, Günter Krings, which is responsible for the internal, wants to expand these bans in determining places. “It is not about a total ban, but about a clear legal framework: Those who lead a knife at large events, at schoolyards or in dangerous areas must count on consequences,” says Krings star.

The SPD interior politician Sebastian Fiedler goes on. “We need a nationwide ban on knife in Germany,” said the former chief criminal chief commissioner star. “We have to ensure that fewer knives are worn on the street.” This does not work if every federal state has a different regulation.

For craftsmen and other professional groups who needed knives at work, there would be exceptional regulations, according to Fiedler. Pocket knives would also be excluded. In the traffic light, the FDP had always resisted a fundamental ban.

The police union (GdP) is also committed to a nationwide ban. “Knife has nothing to look for on the street, at the train station or in public places,” said Federal Chairman Jochen Kopelke the star. “A nationwide ban can be an important step.” Weapons ban zones would “too short”.

“Only consistent controls, fast and sensitive punishments and targeted prevention achieve a noticeable effect. However, there is a lack of sufficient staff,” Kopelke continues. “Clear, understandable rules in weapons law, more police forces and stronger prevention offers, especially for young people and intensive offenders, are necessary. This is the only way to “effectively reduce the increasing knife power and increase the subjective feeling of security”.

Also from the police union comes a proposal with a new approach: video surveillance supported with artificial intelligence. According to “Hamburger Abendblatt”, GDP man Andreas Roßkopf calls for police officers at train stations with AI supported camera technology, “which also includes behavioral detection”.

In contrast to conventional video surveillance, not only people would be taken in, but also analyzed and interpreted their movements in parallel. In the past, the same had suggested Hamburg’s interior senator Andy Grote (SPD). Such AI-based video surveillance is already being tested in a public square near the main train station.

However, according to security experts, the problem with knife attacks is that they take place up close, often run silently and that many people can be seriously injured in the shortest possible time. Even if it succeeds in identifying potential perpetrators and perpetrators, there could be a lack of intervention.

Do the security authorities have potential assassins in mind? There were always doubts about that recently. The SPD interior expert Sebastian Fiedler therefore calls for better threat management of the security authorities. “There would have to be standardized procedural processes for references to potential violent offenders.” This starts with uniform language use and should lead to binding recommendations for further steps. This concerns cases of violent refugees to Islamist endangers to mentally ill people.

According to security experts, police presence also plays a role. The Vice Movine leader of the Greens, Constantine von Notz, criticizes that the capacities of the federal police are now tied to the controls of the borders. “At special dangers such as airports and train stations, the presence of sufficient police officers is needed,” said von Notz star. “I expect the Federal Minister of the Interior to ensure that instead of endangering that through questionable border controls.” Motivated police officers are needed to protect the public. “But they are not if – as at the moment – they have to push many overtime and special shifts at the borders.” A “relevant number” is now canceling due to overload, according to Notz.

CDU interior expert Krings, on the other hand, advises not to lose sight of the migration aspect. “Many perpetrators of the past few months have been known to the police, some of which have been criminal recorded several times and have long since had to be removed from the country,” said Krings. “Anyone who permanently misuses our gastrecht and disregarded our security rules must not rely on endless property rights.” CDU/CSU therefore wanted to deport intensive offenders more easily.

The perpetrator in Hamburg was apparently mentally ill. Before the attack, the woman had been treated in a psychiatry for three weeks, and she was only released on the day before the attack. Also in the attacks in Aschaffenburg, also with a knife, or in Magdeburg, at that time by car, there were indications of mental problems. The CDU therefore called for a new hazard category in the election campaign, for those with “mixed and unstable motivation”.

There is no Germany -wide statistics on how often mentally ill people are responsible for acts of violence with knives. According to studies, the potential for violence among people with mental illnesses is slightly higher than in the total population. In 2021, US scientists examined the cases of 35 ceremonies who killed three or more people. 28 of the 35 perpetrators had a psychiatric diagnosis.

The answer from the psychological world has therefore been: prevention and early intervention. The Union wants to work better with psychiatric and psychologists, the Union wants it. However, there is often a lack of therapy places, psychosocial care or space in the enforcement of measures, where mentally ill perpetrators are accommodated.

The Green Constantine of Notz criticizes: “With the current case from Hamburg, once again it becomes clear that in Germany we obviously do not have enough medical capacities to look after mentally ill people sufficiently well.” This urgently has to change, and more money has to flow into the prevention of such acts. “That sounds little cutting at first, but is necessary to protect the public.”

The domestic spokesman for the Union faction, Alexander Throm (CDU), wants “an honest debate” who is the “predominant groups of perpetrators behind these attacks”. Throm to star: “We have to better protect our country from this: mentally ill violent offenders do not belong on the street, at least not unexpectedly. And the massive disproportionate proportion of foreign crime in this area also requires a clear migration policy answer.” Foreign violent offenders would have to lose their right of residence, as agreed in the coalition agreement.

On Wednesday, the federal government’s coalition committee will meet for the first time. Then strategies for combating knife power could also be an issue.