The videos from last New Year’s Eve in Berlin can still be found on the Internet. You can see firecracker explosions in busy streets and rockets hissing horizontally over people. Sparks from detonating fireworks fly meters away, dark figures fire blank pistols into the sky – even if police officers are standing nearby. For many reasons, the upcoming New Year’s Eve will be an even greater challenge for the police.
What’s unusual about this year’s New Year’s Eve?
Violent gunfire has existed in big cities for a long time. However, fireworks and rockets have been thrown and shot at police officers and firefighters for years. Last year, the attacks in certain neighborhoods were even more violent and targeted, and rescue workers were lured into suspected ambushes, said Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik. Politicians and police said that similar escalations should be expected this year.
Is the risk of riots increasing due to the war in the Middle East?
The Berlin police clearly answer this question in the affirmative, saying the operational situation is becoming “significantly more demanding and complex.” After the attack on Israel and the war in Gaza, the mood in neighborhoods with a large Muslim population could have become even more heated. These districts – including parts of Neukölln in Berlin – were also focal points of last New Year’s Eve. Slowik speaks of an “emotionalization caused by the conflict in the Middle East”: “We certainly assume that these emotions will also be lived out on the streets.”
How successful was the punishment of perpetrators after New Year’s Eve 2022?
The direct pursuit after firecrackers and rocket fire was difficult for the police because many rioters disappeared in the dark. However, perpetrators could be identified by analyzing videos on the Internet. According to the latest reports, the public prosecutor’s office opened 151 investigations. 89 suspects were identified and unknown persons are being investigated in 75 cases.
How have the police prepared this year?
Politicians and the police are under pressure to prevent further riots. The new governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) wants to prove that Berlin is better positioned when it comes to security than before with the SPD, Greens and Left. “We are aware that the security situation in our city has been even more tense since October 7th than it was before,” he said.
For months, the police have been on the move as a preventive measure to talk to young men and teenagers in problem neighborhoods. Encounters in schools and youth clubs were organized to make it clear to aggressive 17-year-olds that there is a human being in the uniform and helmet. The police asked parents of students for help via email. It was said that people work on New Year’s Eve to help others. “Please talk to your children in advance so that we too will be treated with respect and tolerance and want to start the new year unscathed.”
Is there a new police tactic at night?
“It is the largest police operation on New Year’s Eve in recent decades,” said the police chief. An additional 2,000 to 2,500 police officers from Berlin, other federal states and the Federal Police are on the streets. There are also 500 federal police officers at S-Bahn and long-distance train stations. Another 1,000 police officers are on duty in the stations and 220 patrol cars. Days before New Year’s Eve, plainclothes police are expected to monitor the situation in hot spots and arrest rioters. In some areas, the fire brigade is protected by police officers. Additional prosecutors are standing by.
Could Berlin ban fireworks on its own?
No. Greens, environmentalists and the police have long been calling for private fireworks to be banned. The other side argues that peaceful families would then have to suffer because some chaotic people staged street battles in big cities. However, the fireworks are regulated by a federal law and there is no change. However, three local ban zones for fireworks have long been possible in Berlin.
To the chagrin of the police and many residents, there are also numerous illegal firecrackers with more explosives in circulation. In Poland, just an hour away, ranges of firecrackers are sold without certification marks. So-called ball bombs or “dum bum firecracker batteries with 200 shots” are also offered on the Internet.
Given the large police presence, can New Year’s Eve be expected to be peaceful?
Despite the many measures, politicians and the police are expecting a heated mood in the problem neighborhoods again this year. In a city of four million, “pyrochemical excesses” cannot be completely avoided, said Police Chief Slowik. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) was also concerned that New Year’s Eve would again see “blind rage and senseless violence” in some cities.
