crime
Mayor Reiter concerned about increasing violence among young people
Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) comments on the increasing violence among young people. photo
© Matthias Balk/dpa
Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter finds it worrying that the perpetrators are getting younger and younger and the number of robberies has increased significantly. What to do about it?
The city is already organizing a variety of prevention projects together with the police. But conditions have also worsened as a result of the corona pandemic, said Reiter, referring to the sometimes frightening outbreaks of violence among minors in the recent past.
The number of such acts in the state capital rose by 29 percent last year to 4,500 – after almost ten years of decline. “We hope that this is not a reversal of the trend, but at least they are warning signs that make us concerned,” said Munich police chief Thomas Hampel. Especially since the age of the predominantly male perpetrators is getting lower and lower: in the pre-Corona year of 2019, almost 14 percent of all violent perpetrators were minors, but in 2022 the figure was already around 20 percent.
“We won’t reach the hardcore criminals who are determined to do anything with pure prevention,” Hampel is also aware. But the followers who think violent behavior is cool and “want to become gangsters” can still be prevented from going down the wrong path. The city and police therefore want to promote prevention. It won’t fail because of the money, Reiter promised.