The federal and state police authorities registered significantly more crimes last year than in previous years. This reverses the positive trend of the past few years. After the number of crimes in the five previous years had been lower than in the previous year, it rose by 11.5 percent in 2022 to around 5.63 million cases nationwide. The clearance rate fell by 1.4 percentage points to 57.3 percent in the same period.
The data for 2022 showed that the work for the German security authorities had increased enormously, said the national chairman of the police union, Jochen Kopelke. In view of staff gaps, equipment deficits and digital networking, which is still very sluggish, there is an urgent need for action.
Pickpocketing, shoplifting, home burglary
The increase in 2022 was particularly strong in the case of pickpocketing, shoplifting, burglary, white-collar crime and robbery. The fact that the number of criminally relevant violations of the right of residence, the asylum law and the EU freedom of movement law increased is probably related to the significant increase in the number of unauthorized entries.
Here, as well as in the case of property crime, the lifting of measures to contain the corona pandemic also plays a role. These measures had made irregular border crossings more difficult. In addition, people in Germany spent more time than usual in their homes in 2020 and 2021. As a result, there were fewer opportunities for pickpockets and burglars.
increase in violent crime
In terms of violent crime, the police noticed an increase both compared to the previous year and compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. According to the information, there were around 197,000 cases in 2022, almost 20 percent more cases than in the previous year and almost nine percent more than in 2019.
It is striking that the proportion of underage suspects in the “distribution of pornographic writings” is very high at around 41 percent. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, the trend that children and young people share inappropriate pictures in group chats on WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat or other channels, often without knowing that this is a criminal offence, plays a role here.
