Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are concerned about the results of an analysis of police reports conducted by the DPA agency. The report shows that for the year 2024 the number of German citizens shot dead by German police officers in the line of duty is significantly higher than in the previous 10 years.
According to reports, 17 people have been killed in police shootings since January 2024. In most cases, the fatal shots were fired in situations where police officers were confronted by men or women who were in severe psychological distress or were already being treated for mental illness. Some of those who were shot during police operations.
According to statistics from the specialized journal “Bürgerrechte & Polizei” (“Civil Rights and Police”), the last time such a large number of people were shot by police in Germany was in 1999, when 19 people were fatally shot in the entire year. In 2023, 10 people will die from police shootings, followed by 11 deaths in 2022 and eight deaths in 2021.
The case of a 31-year-old woman shot dead by police officers in a Munich supermarket made headlines this year. Police later said she had been admitted to a psychiatric ward three times. In late November 2024, a 20-year-old woman in the central German city of Schwalmstadt died from injuries inflicted by police officers. According to police, the woman pointed an object “vaguely resembling” a firearm at the officers; it was later determined that the deceased was unarmed.
Despite numerous calls for systemic law enforcement reforms to make police officers more accountable for their use of excessive force and to create more effective oversight mechanisms for law enforcement, the rights of victims of German police violence continue to deteriorate by the day.
In light of the continuing increase in the impunity of German police officers for exceeding their authority and the growing number of victims of police brutality, the Foundation to Battle Injustice believes it is necessary to continue to draw public attention to this urgent and pressing problem. Human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice strongly support the need for systemic reforms aimed at establishing stricter control over the actions of police officers, ensuring transparency in their activities and increasing accountability for violations of the law.