German police grieve after colleagues' deaths in shooting

On Monday morning, just hours after two police officers were shot during a traffic check in Kusel in the southwest of Germany, police chaplain Markus Reuter got a call. "I was on my way to the police academy and should have had class," Reuter told DW, "and then colleagues called me, saying that a student had been affected."

The 24-year-old policewoman was a student at the Büchenbeuren police academy in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and was in training to become a police inspector. Reuter teaches ethics there. He trains the young officers, who will face victims and perpetrators in the course of their jobs — but may also experience violence directed at them, as well. "We try to prepare the students for the job, asking: What does the profession do to me? What do the potential dangers do to me?" he said.

'That could have been me'

It's a theoretical, abstract question, as long as it's asked in the lecture hall. But, with the deaths of the two officers, the dangers that police officers often face are suddenly real and very close for Reuter and his students. "Students think: That could have been me. Their own mortality is highlighted. And I think that's what's worrying for some people here," Reuter said.

It has been 11 years since a police officer was last killed in Rhineland-Palatinate. But statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) published in September show a sharp increase in attempted homicides against German police officers in 2020. A total of 114 police officers were counted as victims. Of these, however, only one officer was killed.

The BKA also reported an increase of 20% in cases of dangerous and grievous bodily harm against police officers. Most of these cases occurred in connection with resisting arrest. In 2020, according to the BKA report, a total of around 85,000 police officers were the target of violent acts — from throwing bottles to attempted murder.

Dehumanizing public servants

What does it feel like to be attacked on duty? Kristian Beara has been a police officer since 1999. The 41-year-old is regularly out on the streets wearing blue.

Traffic controls are just as much a part of his daily business as securing soccer matches and visits of foreign heads of state and government.

On many such occasions, police officers are out in full protective gear, with colleagues to their left and right. "You have to look out for each other among colleagues," says Beara. He says he feels increasingly perceived not as a human being, but a "dehumanized public servant" when stones and Molotov cocktails are thrown at him. Aggressiveness and disrespect are on the rise, Beara says, talking of a "brutalization of society."

Alone among hooligans

While providing security at a soccer match, Beara was once separated from his colleagues and suddenly found himself in the midst of violent soccer fans. When the hooligans beat him up, he briefly thought about having to draw his firearm. Finally, he was able to break away and escape, and in retrospect is glad he didn't shoot.

Like many of his colleagues, Beara is shocked by the deaths of the two police officers shot in recent days. "It's terrible. Right now, I am still processing it," he tells DW on the phone, his voice full of emotion. Nevertheless, he is "a police officer with passion," he says. For him, being an officer is more of a calling than a profession, even if his feelings have changed since he became a family man. "That's when it becomes more important to get home in one piece."

Dream job: Police officer

Reuter spoke of a calling that police cadets follow. "Yes, there are doubts sometimes, but these tend to go away." For the vast majority of his students, it is "a dream job, a goal," says Reuter. "Those who fail their studies or have to leave the job for health reasons, they tend to feel troubled." Even after perilous situations, he says, he rarely experiences officers who fundamentally question their profession.

Which is not to say that the police cadets in Rhineland-Palatinate are not deeply affected by the death of their fellow student and her 29-year-old colleague. On Monday, Markus Reuter's immediate concern when arriving at the police academy was to give room to the grief and help his students find a way to dealing with it as a group.

Danger is part of the job

At the Büchenbeuren police academy, there is memorial for police officers killed on duty: a stele made of gray stone, with plaques bearing their names, dates of birth and death. Many students and colleagues gathered there to observe a moment of silence, Reuter said. It was cold and snowing lightly, the mood was depressed and quiet.

Reuter hopes to build on that reflective mood in his teaching over the next few days. He wants to listen and learn about how young police officers deal with the deaths, how they manage to process the grief professionally. After all, he said, danger is part of their job: "They're not flabbergasted; it's part of the job, part of the job description — and they know that."

This article was translated from German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.