Psycho-alarm in Munich: Man threatens the police with weapon and knife!

Psycho-alarm in Munich: Man threatens the police with weapon and knife!

at the Munich I district court, the negotiation against Pierre L. began today, who threatened two police officers in a delicate situation on the Hacker Bridge on August 1 of last year. Under the chair of judge Christian Daimer, the question arises as to how such emergency situations can be handled better in the future. Pierre L. was not only armed, but also had a bread knife with a blade length of 30 cm and refused to drop it. Similar incidents, such as the tragic case on Theresienwiese, where a woman injured two people with a knife, show how explosive the topic is. According to Pierre L., he was in a high degree of psychotic state during the incident and has the feeling that he was lucky to have been shot.

The public prosecutor assumes a psychosis triggered by drugs, which Pierre L. gives the greatest possible insanity in the legal situation. If there were a conviction, an indefinite accommodation in a psychiatric clinic would be expected instead of a prison sentence. It is interesting in this context that when he was arrested in a fast food restaurant on the ZOB there was another incident: Pierre L. had put drinks worth around 40 euros in his backpack and tried without paying. When the employees asked him, he defended himself with blows.

requirement for better training

The case of Pierre L. is not an isolated case, but is a striking statistics. Since 2019, police officers in Germany have shot a total of 37 people in psychological crises, and again and again the question is how civil servants can be better trained in such exceptional situations. Doctors and psychologists have repeatedly asked to improve the preparation and training of the police officers in order to increase security for everyone involved. But the lack of money and staff severely restricts the possibilities when it comes to the training of civil servants. Many federal states have no uniform training standards, and only in a few regions are mandatory training for dealing with mentally ill people.

An example from Hamburg illustrates the situation: The tragic death of Oisín, a new father who was shot by the police in 2019, shows the dangers. Oisín was in psychological need and was confronted with aggressive means by the police. No additional psychiatric specialist was consulted, which raised questions about the action and the appropriate reaction of the officials. The fact that 97 % of the investigative proceedings against police officers are hired makes legal processing of such incidents particularly difficult. The Oisín case also shows that many families have to take legal action afterwards in order to bring clarity into tragic events.

conference to improve the situation

The combination of theory and practical exercises in school education could possibly help to optimize the reaction of police forces in crisis situations. Because one thing is clear: developing a clear framework of action is crucial to prevent such tragedies in the future. A judgment in the case of Pierre L. is expected at the beginning of July, and the public will look forward to the decision.