Police officers in Baden-Württemberg draw their guns comparatively often, mostly as a warning or when they have to kill a dangerous, sick or injured animal. In 2021, however, they also shot at people a total of eight times and thus less frequently than in the two previous years. According to the Ministry of the Interior, a man was shot dead after a domestic dispute in Freudenstadt, and four other people were injured in the same year. In 2020, the police shot people 13 times, three died and eight were injured.
Also in the past year, police officers shot at people. “Cases of firearms related to people killed and injured are at the level of the previous year,” the ministry said. Exact figures are not yet available.
The Ministry of the Interior speaks of a “very low level” with regard to the balance sheet. Service weapons should only be used as a last resort, said a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior. The respective police officer decides on the use of direct coercion in principle on a case-by-case basis and taking into account the principle of proportionality.
