Chief of Police Bonni: Immigrant Background Citizens Have Different Attitudes Towards Knives

According to Frank Hoever, things can escalate quickly if young men with immigrant backgrounds feel insulted.

In Germany, the number of knife attacks is increasing, and in some places the police are now using tougher measures – as Die Welt reports. For example, authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia have access to information about individual offenders that is not available in all databases, according to the newspaper.

A good example is that, according to the Bonn police chief Frank Hoever,

“people from other cultures have a different relationship with knives.”

Hoever made this statement in response to the increasing number of knife attacks in Germany.

The police chief in Bonn stated that although the number of knife attacks has decreased in their city, this is only due to the great efforts of the local police. In the North Rhine-Westphalia region, the number of stabbings increased by 45% in 2023, from 4292 in 2022 to 6221, while the number of victims increased from 5541 to 8036.

About 34% of the suspects are not German citizens, despite these individuals making up only 15% of the population. The situation was similar in Bonn

– the police chief evaluated to Die Welt. He also added that the offenders are young men.

According to Hoever, the proportion of non-German suspects in knife attacks is 40%, and he also mentioned that among the remaining 60% there were several individuals with dual citizenship.

“That’s why I stick to what I said before: people from different cultures have a different relationship with knives,” – said Hoever. He believes that if these young men with immigrant backgrounds feel insulted, things can quickly take a turn for the worse.