Brutal robberies with knives and screwdrivers that were used as threats, large groups of children, young people and adolescents who committed these acts: These incidents around Pasinger train station made headlines a year ago – and scared people in the west of Munich. In the period from July 2022 to March 2023, the police registered 21 robbery offenses in the Pasinger Bahnhofsviertel. The Munich police responded with a massive presence and have so far arrested 29 suspects. Police headquarters believe that criminal structures have been prevented from becoming established.
Several court cases have now been concluded and resulted in prison sentences of up to almost five years. What frightened the experienced investigators: Even after arrest warrants were executed, victims and confessed accomplices were massively threatened and physically attacked. “The violence is increasing,” says Munich police chief Thomas Hampel bluntly – but this doesn’t just apply to children, young people and adolescents under the age of 21.
According to crime statistics, violent crime rose by 8.9 percent in the city and district of Munich last year. Never before in the past decade have so many young people under the age of 21 been identified as suspected robbers. According to the police headquarters, the number of young people between the ages of 14 and 18 suspected of causing dangerous and serious bodily harm is “at the highest level in the last 10 years”.
Is the increase in numbers perhaps even a positive sign?
Politicians have been particularly concerned about the increasing violence in schools since the current Bavaria-wide figures were published. There was controversy in the Bavarian state parliament as to whether this was a general development or a big city phenomenon. A look at developments in Munich shows how differentiated statistics must be viewed in order not to come to wrong conclusions.
First of all, it looks as if crime in schools has not changed at all in the last ten years. Although there are many more young people living in the greater Munich area than in 2014, exactly the same number of crimes were registered, namely 1089. So not a new development? Apparently so, because with 307 bodily harm crimes, the usual picture has been reversed: While three quarters of the crimes in 2014 were thefts, almost half of the reports to schools are now for bodily harm.
But that is apparently only part of reality. According to Erwin Frankl, head of the crime prevention department at the police headquarters, the number of physical injuries reported by schools to insurance companies has hardly changed in recent years and has even declined slightly. So maybe violent clashes between students are no longer taking place, but are just being reported?
Then the increase in numbers would actually be a positive sign of a change in viewing behavior. Frankl doesn’t want to rule that out. One apparently experiences a “shift from the dark to the light field”. The police chief agrees that the police have a very good view of schools – not least through their youth officers and through various long-term action programs: “It’s not a blind spot.”
Overall, young people up to the age of 21 are statistically no more criminal than adults. Their share of the resident population in the city and district is 19.6 percent, and their share of the identified suspects is 20.1. At 9.8 percent, the increase in suspects under the age of 21 was actually slightly lower than the increase in suspects overall (11.6 percent). However, there is no reason to give the all-clear: While the number of young suspects according to crime statistics is roughly at the same level as ten years ago, the number of suspected children has increased by 44.6 percent in the same period.
And another interesting Munich figure in the current discussion: Almost every fourth German suspect is younger than 21 years (6,113), while among suspects without a German passport, only one in seven (3,252). However, the proportion of young offenders in the latter group is currently increasing sharply. The police even list 89 children, young people and adolescents as intensive offenders, 49 of them are German.
A city action plan should be in place by fall
What follows from all this? Repression like in the Pasing case is necessary – it is not suitable as the sole solution. The Munich police are convinced of this. A city action plan is currently being developed, in which the police are also heavily involved, and which is expected to be approved by the city council in the fall. Frankl warned the Presentation of crime statistics on Thursday expressly against generalizations: “Criminologically, it is noticeable that the main factors behind crime committed by young people often lie in dysfunctional family structures and a lack of prospects – outside the immediate sphere of influence of the police.”
The emphasis is on “immediate.” Because the presidium also pursues preventive strategies. The aim is to “show young people future opportunities and self-efficacy experiences,” says Police Chief Hampel. Like on July 25th, when the police once again arrived in large numbers in the trade fair town of Riem. In addition to the Pasing train station area, the district is considered another hotspot for youth and perhaps even gang crime, even if it has become quieter there in recent months.
However, the police officers, supported by the federal police, customs, emergency services and even the Bundeswehr, among others, did not come to raid or arrest anyone. Your mission: “Create perspectives”. In front of the Riem Arcades on Willy-Brandt-Platz, the Executive Board and numerous partners organized a career information day. The “people behind the uniform” – the target of physical attacks in the trade fair city more than once in recent years – should become visible. In the middle of the officers who sought conversation in uniform that day was Munich’s police chief.