Crime in Germany
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Crime in Germanyis handled by theGerman police forcesand other agencies.
Recent trends
[edit]Statistics
[edit]The official statisticsPKS 2018of 2018 by theBundeskriminalamtfor the year 2017 shows an increase of 39.9% for resistance and attacks against state authority, 13.6% in the spreading ofpornographic material,8.3% in crimes against theGerman drug law,6.1% fornarcotic-related crimes generally and 5.5% in violations of theGerman arms law.On the other hand, there was a decrease of 18.2% insexual assault,rape,sexual harassmentincluding cases with lethal consequences, 16.3% inburglaries,9.3% in violations of theimmigrationlaws, 7.6% infraud,7.5% intheftand 6% instreet crime.[1]
European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)
[edit] | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info onPhabricatorand onMediaWiki.org. |
In the EU-SILC survey, respondents were questioned about whether they experienced problems with violence, crime, or vandalism in the area where they live. Between 2010 and 2017, the EU crime average dropped by 3%. All countries in the EU exceptGermany,Sweden,andLithuaniashowed a falling trend of criminal incidents.[3]
By type
[edit]According to Germany's 2010 crime statistics, 5.93 million criminal acts were committed, which was 2% lower than in 2009.[4]According to the Interior Ministry, this was the first time the figure had fallen below six million offenses since 1991 (the year afterreunification), and is the lowest crime level since records began.[4]The rate of crimes solved in 2010 was 56%, a record high from 2009's 55.6%.[4]
In 2010, internet-related crime climbed 8.1%, with around 224,000 reported cases.[4]The number of house burglaries in 2010 also increased by 6.6%.[4]
Domestic violence
[edit]According to 2015 statistics, there were 127,000 victims of domestic violence. (German:Häusliche Gewalt)82% of the victims were female. This represented an increase of 5.5% over 2012 statistics. The most commonly reported crime was bodily harm, defined as a slap or a strike of sufficient force to warrant prosecution. Other common crimes were threats (14.4%), grievous bodily harm (German:schwere Körperverletzung), and injury with a deadly outcome (German:Verletzung mit Todesfolge) at 12%. A fourth of the suspects were reported to be intoxicated from the consumption ofalcohol.[5]
Ex-partner victims were mostly targeted bystalking.[5]
Murder
[edit]The homicide rate in Germany is similarly low to the EU and other developed countries. Homicides increased rapidly in the early 1990s, increasing from 931 in 1990 to 2,032 - 2.5 per 100,000 in 1995 and gradually decreasing in the next 15 years before stabilizing at lower rates from around 2010 (0.98 per 100,000 or 783) to the present with 782 in 2020 at a rate of 0.93 per 100,000.[6]
Organized crime
[edit] | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info onPhabricatorand onMediaWiki.org. |
In the 1990s, the power balance changed in the red light districts of Germany when Russian, Yugoslav, and Albanian organizations started to operate. In parts of Germany, police asked themselves whether they had suppressed German gangs too much as the gangs that took over were more brutal foreign gangs.[8]
In 2017, statistics suggested that German citizens constitute the largest group of suspects in organized crime trials. From 2016 to 2017, the proportion of non-German citizen organized crime suspects increased from 67.5% to 70.7%. 14.9% of the German citizens involved held different citizenship at birth.[7]
Italian organized crime
[edit]The'Ndrangheta,Camorra,andMafiaall operate in Germany. The 'Ndrangheta has the most robust presence. There are an estimated 1,200 members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta active in Germany, mostly in the cocaine trade. Apart from the 'Ndrangheta, the Neapolitan Camorra has also infiltrated the construction industry in Germany. Five Sicilian Mafia groups are active in the country, but seem to have lost power.[9]Italian crime groups can mostly be found in theRuhrdistrict and in the west of Germany.
In December 2018, German police conducted an operation against the 'Ndrangheta in Germany and arrested 90 suspects for suspected drug dealing and money laundering. Forty-seven suspects were prosecuted.[10]
Outlaw motorcycle gangs
[edit]OMCGs such asHells Angels,Bandidos,Gremiumand more recently,Satudarah,Rock MachineandNight Wolves,are active throughout Germany. While not all members of motorcycle clubs are criminals, many are reputed to be involved in thered-light districtsand thebouncerscene, who control a large portion of the drug trade within bars and clubs.[9]
Balkan crime gangs
[edit]People from theBalkanshave strong connections to their home country where they can go underground when they want to evade police. Mafia gangs from Kosovo, Croatia, and Albania have close-knit structures similar to those of the Arab clans. Gangs from Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina have a strong tendency to use violence and according to police, are not discouraged by ordinary police as they have fought in theYugoslav Wars.A number of these gangsters are ex-special forces who served under warlords during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Gangs from the Balkans are active in illegal gambling, protection rackets, narcotics trade and human trafficking. The Yugoslav wars also mean these gangs have access to firearms, where 700 thousand weapons were stolen in Albania alone.[11]
Serbian mafia
[edit]TheZemun clanis active in Germany and mainly involved indrug traffickingandprostitution.Members are largely ethnicSerbs,some of them former soldiers, butMontenegrinsandBosniaksfrom the Serbian region are part of the ex-Yugoslavian gangs as well.[12]
Russian mafia
[edit]Russian-speaking crime groups, in particular, theTambov gangare active in cities such asDüsseldorf.Money laundering,prostitutionandextortionseem to be their activities of choice. Aside from the Russian groups,Georgian,ArmeniaandChechencrime groups are active in Germany as well. Very often these gangs and the Russian groups are named together in one breath even when they have little to do with each other.
Another major form of Russian-speaking organized crime in Germany consists of so-called criminalAussiedlerfamilies.Aussiedlersare ethnicGermans(also calledVolga Germans,Russia Germans) that were born in the formerSoviet Union.While a lot ofAussiedlersadapted well and quickly mastered the German language, a lot of families held onto the traditional lifestyle they lived inRussiaand surrounding states. This led to the formation of individual as well as clan-based groups ofAussiedlersinvolved in organized criminal activities such asdrug trafficking,extortion,prostitution,as well as extreme violence. Due to a large number ofAussiedlersthey are seen as the major form of Russian organized crime in Germany.[13]
Turkish mafia
[edit]| External videos | |
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 Almanya'daki Türk çetesi 36 Boys (Turkish Gangs in Germany) Al-Jazeera |
Turkish crime groupswhich consist of mafia clans from Turkey are active throughout Germany inextortion,weapon traffickinganddrug trafficking.Often the gangs can be linked to political groups from their home country, such as theGrey Wolvesfor right-wingTurksandDev Solfor left-wing Turks.
In 2014, the annual report on organized crime presented inBerlinby Federal Minister of the InteriorThomas de Maizière,showed that there were 61 Turkish gangs in Germany. According to the report, alongside their more traditional fields of drug smuggling, gangs are also increasingly turning their attention to burglary, car theft, and fraud. 10% of Germany's gang members were reported to beTurkishand according to statistics, the activity ofTurkish gangs in Germanyhad decreased.[14][15]
In 2016,Die WeltandBildreported that the new Turkish motorbike gang,Osmanen Germania,was growing rapidly. The newspaperHannoversche Allgemeine Zeitungclaimed that the Osmanen Germania was advancing more and more into thered-light districts,which increases the likelihood of a bloody territorial battle with established gangs like theHells AngelsMotorcycle Club and theMongols Motorcycle Club.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
Middle Eastern crime clans
[edit]Middle Eastern crime clans have become a major player in the underworld of Germany since the mass emigration of large Middle Eastern families, also calledGroßfamilie.Especially in cities such asBerlin,Hamburg,andBremenMiddle Eastern clans are highly active inherointrafficking as well as being involved in thebouncer-scene. Middle Eastern crime families mostly have origins inLebanon,(mainly in Hamburg).
Middle Eastern crime clans come from different backgrounds, but the most numerous of them are the Arab clans such as theAl-Zein Clanand theMiri clanamongst others.
According to a research conducted by theAbba Eban InstituteArchived2019-10-23 at theWayback Machineas part of an initiative calledJanus Initiative,Hezbollah has built up its own international drug trafficking and money laundering network, with mafia-like structures. The research is focusing on the ties between organized crime and Hezbollah and found clans in Germany that are specifically supporting Hezbollah. According to the Abba Eban Institute, members of the three Shiite extended families Chahrour, Berjawi and Balhas are based in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, and are deeply involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.[22]
Afghan gangs
[edit]Afghan clans are active inHamburg,a city with a large Afghan population. Like theTurkishas well asAlbaniangangs in the city, Afghan organized crime is active inhashishandherointrafficking,extortionandprostitution.[23][24]
North Africans Gangs
[edit]Moroccan organized crime groups, have been reported inFrankfurt.Next to theSerbian mafiaand Balkan gangs, the Moroccan organized crime has become one of the active main players in the Frankfurt underworld forherointrade as well as other criminal activities.[25]
Vietnamese crime groups
[edit]Vietnamese groups active inhuman traffickingandcigarette smugglinghave been reported in Germany.Chinese Triadson the other hand have also been reported but don't seem to have substantial power in Germany.[9]
Corruption
[edit]Transparency International’s Global corruption barometer 2013 revealed thatpolitical partiesand businesses are the most corrupt institutions inGermany.The same report also indicated thatpetty corruptionis not as uncommon as otherEuropeancountries. The survey showed that 11% of the respondents claim to have been asked to pay a bribe at one point in their life and only a few of those said that they had refused to pay the bribe.[26]
By nationality
[edit]In 2018,The Wall Street Journalanalyzed German crime statistics for crime suspects and found that the foreigners, overall 12.8% of the population, make up a disproportionate share of crime suspects (34.7%), see horizontal bar chart.[27]
In 2016, 31.4% of all convicted offenders were foreigners,[28]about 3 times higher than the percentage of foreigners living in Germany.[29]
According toThe Huffington Postin February 2018, out of each of the 15statejustice ministries, 12,300 Muslims are in prison. This constitutes about 20% of the 65,000 prison population in Germany, proving to be an over-representation. The highest shares are in city states ofBremen(29%),Hamburg(28%) but the share is high also in large states such asHessen(26%)Baden-Württemberg(26%). The share is lower in the former East Germany.[30]
In 2018, the interior ministry published an analysis of the Federal Police Statistic (PKS) for the first time, which included all the people who came via the asylum system into Germany.[31]The report found that the group defined as immigrants, which constitutes 2% of the total population, makes up 8.5% of all crime suspects.[32]
By location
[edit]Crimes such asdrug trafficking,weapon trafficking,extortion,prostitution,money launderingandcontract killingare mostly present in poorly maintained areas of urban centers such asBerlin,Frankfurt,Hamburg,Hannover,Duisburg,CologneorDüsseldorf.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2018"(PDF).
- ^"Crime, violence or vandalism in the area - EU-SILC survey".Eurostat.Retrieved28 April2019.
- ^ab"Fler upplever brottslighet och vandalisering i sitt bostadsområde".Statistiska Centralbyrån(in Swedish).Retrieved2019-04-28.
- ^abcdeCrime rate drops to record low,Deutsche Welle. Retrieved June 2011
- ^abRundschau, Frankfurter."Kriminalstatistik: Häusliche Gewalt gegen Frauen nimmt zu".Frankfurter Rundschau(in German).Retrieved2018-11-09.
- ^"UNODC".Retrieved20 January2022.
- ^ab"BKA - Bundeslagebilder Organisierte Kriminalität - Bundeslagebild Organisierte Kriminalität 2017".www.bka.de(in German). p. 13. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-08-11.Retrieved2018-08-11.
- ^Eppelsheim, Philip; Hannover."Netzwerke in Hannover: Ein Nachmittag im Steintorviertel".Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung(in German).ISSN0174-4909.Retrieved2019-10-20.
- ^abc"Kriminalität: Geheim und unsichtbar - Welt - Tagesspiegel".Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^"NRW-Innnenmnister Reul über kriminelle Clans: Wir lassen sie einfach nicht in Ruhe".FOCUS Online(in German).Retrieved2019-01-16.
- ^"Balkan-Clans in Berlin: Die haben Dinge getan, die wir uns nicht vorstellen können".FOCUS Online(in German).Retrieved2019-10-20.
- ^Von Horst Kuhnes (20 August 2007)."Organisierte Kriminalität".Westdeutsche Zeitung.Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^"Prozess in Augsburg: So herrscht die Russen-Mafia im Gefängnis - Nachrichten Bayern".Augsburger Allgemeine.Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^"Organisierte Kriminalität".Archived fromthe originalon 14 November 2016.Retrieved21 May2016.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^"Organized crime on the rise in Germany".www.thelocal.de.2 October 2014.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^"Working Out with a Notorious German Biker Gang".Vice.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^"Osmanen drängen ins Rotlichtmilieu und fordern Rockerclubs heraus – HAZ".Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung(in German). Archived fromthe originalon 17 June 2016.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^"Rockergruppe Osmanen Germania wächst rasant".Welt Online.1 February 2016.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^Turek, Zlatan Alihodzic und Michael."Polizeieinsatz in mehreren Städten gegen" Osmanen Germania "".WAZ.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^Frigelj, Kristian (16 February 2016)."Wir kommen und übernehmen das ganze Land".Welt Online.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^"Warum sehe ich Bild.de nicht".Bild.de.Retrieved21 May2016.
- ^Al-Kuds-Marsch in Berlin Die Clans, die Hisbollah und die schmutzigen Geschäfte,Berliner Zeitung, June 1, 2019
- ^"Schutzgeld-Gang plante Übernahme des Lokstedter Bordells: Machtkampf im Milieu: Sie wollten alles".Mopo.de.Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^"Blutige Afghanen-Fehde: Bandenkrieg in Hamburg wegen Nacktfotos auf Facebook".Mopo.de.Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^Max Schneider und Jürgen Mahnke (Fotos)."Rache geschworen: Droht ein Drogenkrieg im Bahnhofsviertel?".Bild.de.Retrieved18 April2016.
- ^"Global Corruption Barometer 2013".Transparency International.Retrieved6 December2013.
- ^abPancevski, Bojan (2018-10-15)."An Ice-Cream Truck Slaying, Party Drugs and Real-Estate Kings: Ethnic Clans Clash in Berlin's Underworld".The Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.Retrieved2018-10-16.
- ^"Strafverfolgung - Ausländische Verurteilte 2016".DESTATIS.
- ^"Wie viele Ausländer leben in Deutschland?".Mediendienst Integration.
- ^"Allahs Kinder hinter Gittern: Warum in deutschen Gefängnissen so viele Muslime sitzen".HuffPost Deutschland(in German). 2018-02-01. Archived fromthe originalon 2019-02-13.Retrieved2018-12-01.
- ^"Kriminalität im Kontext von Zuwanderung - Bundeslagebild 2017".BKA.2018. pp. 27, 55, 61. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-08-02.Retrieved2019-09-03.
- ^Leubecher, Marcel (27 April 2018)."Zuwanderer in einigen Kriminalitätsfeldern besonders auffällig".Die Welt.