On average, 290 police officers in Germany are subjected to violence each and every day. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the number of threats, attacks, and acts of resistance has reached a new peak.

In 2023, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) recorded more violent acts against police officers than ever before. Approximately 106,000 officers became victims of violence directed against them. This is an increase of more than 9,000 compared to 2022, representing a rise of around ten percent. These figures come from a recent BKA report, as cited by Tagesschau, a German news outlet.

BKA defines violent crimes as offences such as murder, manslaughter, various forms of assault, robbery, coercion, threats, acts of resistance and bodily harm.

In the majority of cases – around 85 percent of violent incidents – the acts occur during arrests, although violent protests also account for many instances. The number of cases where police officers were threatened has also risen. In addition, authorities recored more than 40 attempted murders against police officers, three more than in 2022.

BKA registered just under 39,000 suspects, an increase of nearly six percent compared to the previous year. The overwhelming majority of suspects were male (almost 84 percent), and the proportion of foreign suspects rose from 30 to nearly 34 percent.

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the perpetrators acted alone in most cases, they were already known to the police (75.3 percent) and were often under the influence of alcohol (50.2 percent).