False emergency calls, aggressive troublemakers and increased patrols at the start of the Christmas market - November for the city police

The cold and wet November weather ensured that the number of disturbances of the peace decreased with each passing week. The 48th calendar week of the year was probably the "quietest" week of the year so far with only nine disturbances.

The traffic police carried out speed checks at an average of 25 locations per week and initiated between 75 and 738 proceedings for exceeding the speed limit. There were a particularly high number of warnings for parking offences and other traffic violations in the first week of November, with 2,124. Between 29 and 56 vehicles per week were registered for de-stamping at the Offenbach registration office.

The first week of November began with 80 significant traffic obstructions. These included, for example, blocked driveways, parking spaces for the severely disabled and temporary stopping bans. If the city police cannot reach the drivers, they have the vehicles towed away. Between 13 and 16 vehicles were towed away each week, with all others receiving an expensive warning.

In the second week of November, the city police, together with the public order office, carried out the road safety week at 18 schools. Parking violations, reckless behavior and child safety were checked. Pupils handed out homemade hearts, chocolates and roses to considerate drivers, while reckless drivers received sad smileys and lemons. During the campaign, the city police initiated 43 administrative offenses, issued 13 verbal warnings and had a vehicle that was blocking the school entrance towed away. Some parents reacted in a disagreeable manner, one mother even became abusive. In addition, problematic traffic management was noticed at one school, which was reported to the road traffic authorities. Children were often found to be inadequately secured, for example due to incorrect or missing child seats or incorrectly fitted seat belts.

Helpless people

The changeable and often wet and cold November weather meant that considerably fewer reports of helpless persons were received. In November, there were between one and seven people. The majority of these were sick, demented or confused people who required medical assistance.

In the first week of November, however, a man knocked vehemently at the side entrance to the city guardhouse and loudly demanded to be let in. After he was escorted to the front door, his aggressive behavior escalated. Due to his condition, the members of the municipal police called an ambulance, which took the man to hospital for examination.

In the first week of November, young people went on the rampage in a parking garage and were stopped and checked by a patrol. Illicit drugs were found on one of them and seized. The youth was reported to the police and was picked up by a parent or guardian.

A man reported to the city police that he had been aggressively approached by a person and grabbed by the arm after refusing a ride. The patrol found the suspect, who was carrying narcotics and was already known to the police. During the check, he hyperventilated and was taken to a clinic.

A patrol was sent to two people rioting in a bakery. One of them was holding a knife, but immediately dropped it. Another patrol was called in to assist. The municipal police searched the rioters and found another standard knife on the same person. The knives were confiscated and both people were sent off.

In the second week of November, a patrol came across two men consuming cannabis in the marketplace toilet block. One of them was carrying more than 25 grams and was reported to the police. Both men were unruly and insulted the city police officers.

In front of the city police station, the city police noticed a confused, injured and inadequately dressed woman. There were indications of drug use in her neglected apartment. After a psychiatric examination, she was admitted to hospital for one night.

The city police helped a mother to find her mentally ill daughter. The mother had picked up the teenager from the clinic for a walk. In the process, she wandered away from her mother.

At the beginning of the third week of November, a patrol outside the city police station on Marktplatz observed a man throwing a street sign onto the road. When approached, he fled but was caught and taken to the police station. The man claimed to have been followed, which was not confirmed. On suspicion of illegal residence, the city police handed him over to the state police.

In the same week, a false emergency call triggered an operation by the city police. A man reported that his mother had had a bad fall and was unconscious. However, the patrol and fire department found an empty apartment, as the mother was in rehab. Other false alarms, for example due to an alleged smell of gas, also kept the emergency services busy. The police are investigating these cases for misuse of emergency calls.

In the last week of November, a patrol in the pedestrian zone escorted a refuse collection vehicle belonging to the municipal waste disposal company, which had previously tried to make way by honking its horn loudly. A brief conversation with the desperate driver revealed that a fire had broken out in the vehicle's cargo area and that the trip to the depot was really urgent in order to avert the fire and thus the damage.

An alleged disturbance of the peace turned out to be a family dispute. The father of the family had to be expelled from the apartment because he threatened the mother and child with violence and destroyed the furniture. The state police finally took the man into custody to enforce the restraining order.

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