Rioters attack police officers in Steglitz - three officers injured!

Rioters attack police officers in Steglitz - three officers injured!

In the night of Thursday, June 5, 2025, there was a violent incident in Berlin-Steglitz, in which a 45-year-old rioter injured three police officers. The man who rioted in a back yard of a residential complex did not listen to the multiple requests of the police to leave the area. Instead, he showed himself aggressively, clenched the fists and asked the police for physical conflicts, as rbb24 reported.

The operation was triggered by concerned residents around 3:30 a.m. The officials entered threatening the use of an electric taser when the rioter did not obey. At the subsequent arrest, the man bit a police officer in the ear, which led to injuries to this and two other officials. The injured policeman had to end his service after treatment in the hospital. The 45-year-old was brought to the psychiatric department of a hospital due to his mental state, such as t-online

social challenges

The incident again raises questions about the police procedure in dealing with people in psychological crises. Criminology expert Tobias Singelnstein from the Goethe University Frankfurt points out that deaths are not an isolated case after police missions in mentally ill people, which in such a way questions the general sensitivity of police forces in such situations. Again and again concerned relatives call the police because they see no alternative help. However, the police look at such operations primarily through the glasses of law and order, focuses on possible threats, explains taz.

The training of the police officers, however, only inadequately takes up the topic. As Singelnstein emphasizes, sensitivity in dealing with mentally ill people depends heavily on the social skills of the officials. There is often a use of violence, which, however, is understood as an exceptional situation from the police point of view. In practice, the use of violence becomes complex and is often not clearly definable.

The problem of police violence is not only theoretical nature. Cases of misconduct are not always transparent, which is made difficult by a strong inland culture within the police. The lowest notification of the victims and the small number of charges in the event of suspected cases reinforce concern about the actual control of the police operation. Only about 2% of suspected cases lead to an indictment procedure.

The incident in Berlin-Steglitz is another example of the challenges with which the police are faced with, and illustrates the urgent need for reforms and more sensitive use of mentally stressed people.