January for the municipal police: more traffic police officers, violence against police officers

The cold and unsettled weather in January ensured that the number of disturbances of the peace in January remained at a low level. The fourth calendar week was the quietest of the year so far with only nine reported cases. In the other weeks, the number was between ten and 19.

Due to the low temperatures, considerably fewer reports of helpless people are being received. In January, there were between four and ten. Most of these were sick, demented or confused people who needed medical assistance.

Two people had to be admitted to a psychiatric ward. One of them was a woman who threw various items of garbage and objects at the police vehicles. When asked about this, she tried to spit on the emergency services and threw punches in their direction. As she could not be calmed down and continued to threaten to "break everything", she had to be admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

The second incident also took place directly in front of the police station: a drunk man repeatedly banged his head against the entrance door of the police station. When he was approached, he stated that he wanted to fatally injure himself. This man was also presented to the psychiatrist on duty at the Sana Clinic, where he was admitted as an inpatient.

The traffic police carried out speed checks at up to 40 locations per week and initiated between 77 and 399 proceedings for exceeding the speed limit. There were a particularly high number of warnings for parking offences and other traffic violations in the last week of January, with 4,237. The varying number of violations per week depends on the availability of the traffic police. The increase compared to last month was foreseeable, as newly trained traffic police officers are now on duty.

In January, 236 vehicles were registered for de-stamping at the Offenbach registration office. Between eleven and 30 vehicles were towed away in January, all others received an expensive warning.

January was an eventful month - the incidents in the first two weeks alone would provide material for several stories.

In the first week of January, two people attempted to load a shopping cart onto a public bus. The city police patrol that was notified was physically attacked by the two people and was ultimately forced to use physical force to end the situation. In the further course of the incident, both individuals refused to give their personal details and repeatedly insulted the members of the municipal police force. The city police filed several criminal charges.

In addition, the police station received a report about people who were on the parking deck where the city police vehicles are parked. Fortunately, however, a patrol was unable to detect any damage or tampering with the vehicles. The following day, however, the employees of the municipal police found various writings on the snow-covered windows of the vehicles.

In the second week of January, the fire department had to free a person from the elevator at the Marktplatz S-Bahn station, which had become stuck due to a defect. A patrol was able to calm the trapped person down.

In the third week of January, a call for help from the social welfare office led to a woman threatening the customers present in the anteroom with a raised, empty vodka bottle. She also claimed to be carrying razor blades and a firearm and threatened violence. The city police arrested the woman and handed her over to the state police.

A woman also came forward who claimed to have been raped by her ex-partner. The municipal police took over the initial support and immediately informed the criminal investigation department of the provincial police, who coordinated and carried out all further measures.

As an exception, the city police even had to support several patrols of the state police when they were pelted with beer bottles and chairs by several people. Originally there had been an argument between two groups of people, who turned on the patrols when the police arrived. The investigation is ongoing and one person was arrested during the operation.

This month, there has been an increase in vehicles being used as hire cars or cabs without the drivers having a license. In addition, the drivers are usually not covered by social security and the operators do not pay any tax on the income.

In the fourth week of January, a twelve-year-old girl turned up seeking help and said she did not know who to turn to. It turned out that the young woman was wanted by the police because she had escaped from a psychiatric shelter, had been staying with a friend for a few days and tended to be aggressive and suicidal. After consultation with her mother, the youth welfare office and the psychiatric service of the clinic, she was taken to a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic.

At Schultheis-Weiher, a patrol noticed a pile of old, badly damaged, large-format photos, all of which were pornographic in nature. The pictures were collected without reference to the owner and destroyed for reasons of youth protection.

Also in the fourth week of January, a man appeared and described how he had been severely beaten and injured in the face by another man on the market square. The crime was confirmed on the basis of video recordings and the city police were able to complete the description of the person for the manhunt. The victim was taken to the Sana Clinic for a fractured nasal bone, among other things.

In the last week of January, a patrol wanted to enter a pub to investigate a vehicle owner, but the door remained locked. Despite knocking several times, no one responded; instead, the city police detected a strong smell of marijuana. Someone shouted "police" from inside, whereupon several people fled frantically through the back door. Only after a few minutes did a man open the door, who claimed to be the person in charge and explained that the door was locked because the party was closed. He and several guests behaved aggressively and uncooperatively. The heavily soiled bar had remnants of marijuana cigarettes in ashtrays and a precision scale. The city police closed and sealed the premises and the key was handed over to the relevant department.

Two men became violent with the driver after a cab ride and fled without paying. As they could no longer be found, the city police informed the driver of his legal options and referred him to the relevant police headquarters to file a criminal complaint.

The municipal police also had to carry out residence investigations several times a week in January. This primarily involves checking on cohabiting couples and cases in which urgent official mail could not be delivered due to a lack of letterboxes or doorbells.