A locked classroom (symbol photo) Photo: picture alliance / Zoonar | DesignIt
From BZ/dpa
Schools used to only have chairs, tables and blackboards. Nowadays, schools are also equipped with electronic devices and are therefore targets for thieves.
There are between 300 and almost 500 burglaries, attempted burglaries and serious thefts in Berlin schools every year. The highest value was last reached in 2017 with 470 corresponding acts. This emerges from the response of the Senate and the police to a CDU request. But last year, the police registered 290 break-ins and attempted break-ins in schools, 55 in the Neukölln district alone.
Most crimes have happened in Reinickendorf, Pankow, Mitte and Neukölln in recent years. Notebooks, tablets, mobile phones and other computers were the main items stolen, but also keys, cash boxes, projectors and even food.
In addition, there were between 700 and more than 800 cases of vandalism each year, i.e. damage to property with the school as the crime scene. Last year, the deeds added up to 729, with Pankow (100), Marzahn-Hellersdorf (85) and Reinickendorf (78) leading the way. Around 100 alleged perpetrators were identified by the police. There are more than 800 schools in Berlin.
The Senate stated: “Vandalism and burglary in schools are forms of crime that can be observed city-wide and across all school types.” The perpetrators often come from the environment of the students or are students or former students themselves. The reasons for the vandalism ranged from “experience has shown from general destructiveness to frustration at one’s own school (failure) success”. Some acts would also be committed from within certain groups and the so-called group dynamics. The police offer schools a lot of advice on burglary protection, locking systems and the power of keys of individual employees.