On average, a police officer in Saxony-Anhalt draws his service weapon more than once a day. The reason is mostly the same.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – Saxony-Anhalt’s police officers have resorted to service weapons more frequently in recent years. In 2021, officials used their firearms a total of 522 times, according to a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry. In the previous year, the statistics showed 597 such cases. The numbers have been showing an upward trend for years. For comparison: in 2014, the Interior Ministry counted 276 cases in which police officers used their guns.
Firearm use is not the same as firing a shot. The mere drawing of the firearm is also included in the statistics. “One speaks of a determined backup posture or a determined shooting posture,” said the spokeswoman.
In the past year, the service weapon was only used four times against people. One person was injured. In one case, a police officer fired a warning shot. According to statistics, by far the largest part has been the killing of dangerous, sick or injured animals for years. In 2021, this was the reason for the use of service weapons almost 500 times. In eight cases, the use was directed “against other things”.
Fatalities from the use of the service weapon have been rather rare in recent years. Between 2010 and 2021 there were five such cases. This compares to seven injured people in the same period.
