From BZ/dpa
Three months before New Year’s Eve, the Berlin Police Union (GdP) called for a whole range of measures to prevent renewed riots in the capital.
A nationwide ban on private fireworks combined with a ban on sales has actually been necessary for a long time, GdP state chairman Stephan Weh told the German Press Agency.
Because a change in the law is not expected across Germany by New Year’s Eve, at least in Berlin a local ban on fireworks within the entire S-Bahn ring is conceivable and “somewhat feasible,” emphasized Weh.
Burning barricades on a street in Kreuzberg Photo: Spreepicture
Instead of “private firecrackers”, the districts should organize central professional fireworks displays. “There would be more clarity on the streets so that violent criminals could be more specifically selected from the crowd.” In addition, the regulations for the storage and sale of fireworks would have to be tightened. In addition, a ban on glass bottles is also possible.
Weh criticized: “We are at the beginning of October and are not yet one step further. Berlin’s police and fire brigade have been preparing for the coming New Year’s Eve for months, but the answer cannot be that we simply call more colleagues into service.” Politicians and police leadership risked “tens of people being injured.”
The conservative, smaller German Police Union (DPolG) recently demanded that police officers be better protected from violent attacks: The emergency services on the streets on New Year’s Eve need fire protection hoods, fireproof uniforms and hearing protection as well as better fire extinguishers for all patrol cars.
The Berlin state chairman Bodo Pfalzgraf said that the willingness to use violence was high. “Dangerous means such as pyrotechnics are used specifically against people and the resulting, sometimes serious, injuries are sometimes even deliberate.”
Attacks on rescuers on New Year’s Eve
Last New Year’s Eve, young men rioted with firecrackers and rockets in several Berlin districts with socially disadvantaged areas, such as Neukölln, Schöneberg and Gesundbrunnen. They also threw and shot firecrackers at police officers and firefighters.
Similar scenes also took place in other major German cities. Many firefighters reported that these attacks on New Year’s Eve had become “normal” in many cities for years.