Crime and Sexual Offenses Rise in 2024, According to German Government Response
The number of violent and sexual crimes has increased in 2024, a response from the German government to a written question from the AfD Bundestag faction, as reported by the “Welt” (Saturday edition).
The number of violent crimes rose from 25,640 in 2023 to 27,160 in the previous year, a 5.93% increase. Sexual crimes, in particular, rose by 19.18%, from 1,898 to 2,262. Warrant and property damage crimes increased by 10.04% and 5.52%, respectively.
While the number of stabbing incidents in trains decreased by around 18%, it increased in train stations by 20.54%, from 404 to 487 cases. The only type of crime to decrease was the number of drug-related crimes, which fell by a significant 44.65%, likely due to cannabis no longer being considered a drug since April of the previous year.
Non-German suspects were disproportionately involved in crimes at German train stations. They made up the largest proportion in property crimes at 59.84%, followed by sexual crimes at 58.76% and violent crimes at 46.82%. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the foreigner proportion in Germany was 15.2% in 2023.
Alexander Throm, the interior policy spokesperson for the CDU, stated that this crime increase was “dramatic and a burden for all people who rely on the train.”
“Train stations and trains, which are developing into fear zones, significantly impinge on the sense of security of the population in the public space and must not be a permanent state. The fact that foreigners are overrepresented in relation to their population proportion shows that the causes of this development are also to be sought in a misguided and failed migration policy. Illegal migration must be reduced very clearly and video surveillance with biometric facial recognition must become standard” Throm said.
Martin Hess, the AfD Bundestag member who submitted the question to the government, stated that train stations were developing into “no-go areas”: “In many crime areas, foreigners are overproportionally strongly represented among the suspects. But instead of clearly naming these connections, the old parties are downplaying these facts or trying to conceal the reality.”
The AfD demands a “radical rethink” and “zero tolerance for foreign violent offenders. Foreign criminals without a German passport must be consistently deported.”
The Left criticized the AfD for submitting the question, saying, “It is obvious that behind such requests, racist motives stand. It is not about a factual discussion of crime, but about the deliberate construction of a stereotype.”
Crime has nothing to do with nationality, emphasized Clara Bünger, the Left’s right-wing spokesperson. “Decisive factors are criminogenic factors like education, social security and poverty. Whoever really wants to do something about crime must start here, instead of categorizing people by their origin.” The statistics of the police’s intake statistics are also “less reliable” than those of the police’s criminal statistics, Bünger added, noting that the PES captures all reports, even if a suspicion later proves unfounded.