Drugs, riots and a SEK operation - the city police had a lot to do at the start of the year

In January, citizens reported between nine and 36 disturbances of the peace per week in restaurants, private homes and public places.

One disturbance in the penultimate week of January turned out to be domestic violence. When a patrol arrived at the scene of the disturbance, they noticed a man in a vehicle who first switched off the engine when they saw the patrol and then immediately switched it on again. Due to the close temporal and local connection with the reported dispute, they checked him. He had scratches and abrasions on his face and admitted that he had had an argument with his partner and had been drinking alcohol. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of 1.25. The patrol went to the man's home with him and found his partner there, who had a clearly swollen lip. The man was taken to the police station.

The city police are regularly called out to people who appear helpless. In January, there were between five and 16 helpless people. These included sick or confused people who needed medical assistance.

The traffic police carried out speed checks at up to 62 different locations each week and initiated between 53 and 183 proceedings for exceeding the speed limit.

There were a particularly high number of parking tickets in the penultimate week of January, with 2,406. Up to 18 vehicles were towed away each week due to significant traffic obstructions. In January, 155 vehicles were registered for deregistration at the Offenbach registration office. This usually concerns vehicles for which the insurance or tax has not been paid or which are no longer roadworthy due to significant defects.

At the end of January, there was a considerable tailback in Bettinastrasse, which extended as far as Kaiserstrasse. The reason was a tow truck that was parked across the road and wanted to tow a car from a car-sharing parking lot. The driver concerned was also on site. The driver of the tow truck refused to unload the car because the driver was unable to pay the bill on the spot. He did not comply with the instructions of the city police to unload the car and clear the road. He insisted on the right of retention according to the BGB. The city police informed him that this did not apply in this case because the driver had a permanent residence in Germany. Only when the state police gave the towing company employee the same instructions did he unload the car. Charges were brought against the employee. It is also being investigated whether he will have to pay for the deployment of the city police and the considerable bus delays.

There were several cases of drug and alcohol abuse in January. In the very first week of January, young people were reported to be using drugs on the escape stairs of a supermarket. A patrol encountered five young people surrounded by the smell of cannabis. The patrol found a total of 33 grams of cannabis and a baton. Corresponding charges were the result.

In the area of the Marktplatz S-Bahn station, a patrol investigated two people. They had allegedly consumed heroin. However, the patrol did not find any drugs, but instead a telescopic baton, a pepper spray and identification documents that did not belong to the woman being searched. The three items were confiscated and reported to the relevant authorities.

In the week before last in January, a helpless woman was reported at the side of the road. Her drowsy and disoriented behavior indicated the consumption of narcotics, so the patrol called for an ambulance. Meanwhile, a man arrived who also appeared slowed down and confused. When he spoke to a person on the phone, the patrol noticed a slowed-down and confused mood over the loudspeaker. When asked, the person on the phone said that everyone had consumed ketamine. A patrol drove to the apartment, where they found two women, one of whom was underage. They seized a considerable amount of ketamine. The minor and the narcotics were handed over to the state police.

In January, the city police had to deal with a number of drunk people. A patrol was called to a man who was so drunk that he could neither speak nor walk on his own. He had no ID with him, so the patrol initially took him to the regional police station. Using fingerprints, they were able to establish the man's identity and placed him in a sobering-up cell for the time being.

Also in the first few days of January, a patrol went to a bakery. An intoxicated woman refused to leave the store. The patrol had to escort her out under duress, during which she kicked a city police officer in the shin several times. At the police station, she insulted the police officers and continued to kick them. An ambulance finally had to take her to a clinic, where she was psychologically examined. The following day, she appeared sober at the police station to apologize.

A drunk father was out with his children in mid-January. Passers-by reported that the children had run into the street several times. In front of a patrol officer, he disposed of a beer bottle in a bush and another empty beer bottle was in the baby carriage. One municipal police officer explained the seriousness of the situation to the father, while the second looked after the children. The incident was reported to the youth welfare office.

Also drunk was a man who disturbed a police operation by shouting and playing his guitar. He had previously harassed passers-by. As he did not comply with the order to leave, he was taken into central police custody and finally placed in a sobering-up cell. At the end of January, a man was also taken to a detention cell to sober up. He was first noticed at Marktplatz and later staggered along the road in the Bieberer Straße area.

An inspection regarding a ban on keeping animals escalated at the beginning of the month: the resident insulted the patrol and threw objects at them. Even officers from the regional police were unable to calm her down. When she finally threatened to use a firearm, the police had to call in the special task force (SEK) from Frankfurt. Several patrols cordoned off and secured the area while the SEK forced their way into the apartment. The woman was eventually taken to a psychiatric ward and the dog was taken into official custody.

A rowdy woman also reacted aggressively in the area of Richard-Wagner-Straße. She spat and kicked the police officers and eventually had to be restrained and given a spit protection hood. As the woman tried to injure herself by hitting her head on the ground, she was taken to a psychiatric facility.

In two operations in the week before last in January, the city police also had to present two people to a psychiatric clinic. A man already known from countless incidents hit vehicles and a woman also known to the city police threatened her father.

A man who threatened family members was also admitted to a psychiatric clinic at the end of the month. He was also banned from his home. In another case of suspected domestic violence, the city police encountered a mother with two children. The mother explained that her son had repeatedly been late and there had been arguments about this. The son in turn said that he had been beaten by his mother and sister. The boy was placed in a support facility via the on-call service of the youth welfare office. The state police filed a criminal complaint.

An argument broke out at the Sana Clinic when a vehicle was being towed away. A patrol settled the dispute between the driver of the car in question and the employee of the towing service. Neither of them pressed charges.

Help came too late for a resident in an apartment building when a neighbor reported a strong odor to the city police. The patrol noticed the smell of decay in the elevator. After the fire department had opened the apartment door, the patrol found the resident dead, the decomposition process had already begun. The state police were called in.

A man suffering from dementia, on the other hand, was lucky: a friend asked the municipal police to check on him after he had not been in touch for several days. A patrol found him lying on the floor in the apartment after forcing the door open. All the radiators were turned up, and the stove and oven were switched on. An ambulance was called and the patrol turned off all the appliances and turned down the radiators.

The municipal police also had to carry out various residence investigations in January. This primarily involved checking cohabiting couples and cases in which urgent official mail could not be delivered due to missing letterboxes or doorbells. Anyone interested in the detailed weekly reports can read them all on the city police website.