Police in Berlin: Bodily harm in office for refugee accommodation!

Police in Berlin: Bodily harm in office for refugee accommodation!

A 40-year-old police officer is suspected of beating a man in a refugee accommodation in Berlin-Neukölln on June 29, 2022. This incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. as part of a police operation, which was triggered by an emergency call from the apartment of a witness. According to the General Prosecutor's Office Berlin, indictment was charged for assault in office.

One of the details of the incident is that the police officer, together with another officer, asked the 46-year-old witness to leave the room. The witness did not comply with this request, which caused him to be brought to the hallway together with the official. There, the accused is said to have hit the witness at least once, possibly up to seven times, with his fist in the face. These blows should not be justified and disproportionate.

Consequences of the act of violence

The attacked suffered several serious facial injuries, including complex fractures on the yoke bone, on the eye socket and the maxillary sinus. The injuries required extensive medical treatment, and the 46-year-old continues to suffer mentally from the incident and is in medical treatment. This type of incident raises questions about the proportionality of police violence and is increasingly being viewed critically.

In a similar context, a journalist was injured in May 2024 during the evacuation of a building occupied by Pro Palestine activists at the Humboldt University. When the journalist, who was equipped with a visible press card, documented the situation, he was brought to the ground by a 32-year-old police officer. This incident, which took place on May 23, 2024, led the Tiergarten district court issued a criminal order against the police officer. He has to pay a fine of 90 daily rates of 80 euros each, after the public prosecutor found that the measure was not directed against the journalist, such as [T-Online] (https://www.t-online.de/region/berlin/ID_100589780/berlin-koerperwehr-am-mat-kmiji. reported.

Scientific consideration of violence

The increasing public and legal consideration of police violence is also analyzed in scientific studies. The research project KVIAPOL, funded by the German Research Foundation, has investigated the police violence and its criminal processing in Germany. The results published in numerous specialist publications and the book "Violence in the Office" are based on a survey with over 3,300 participants and more than 60 qualitative interviews. These studies represent cases as complex interaction events in which police officers often have the power of definition through the situation. The results of the project are available in the Open Access and accessible online, as can be found on the website KViapol.

These incidents and the associated legal consequences reflect the challenges and tensions between police and society as well as the need for a transparent and fair response to police violence.