Overview
- Overall violent crime edged down in 2025, the police chief said, but the proportion involving minors remained close to last year's level.
- As a baseline, 2024 data show about 8% of violent offenses committed by children and 14% by adolescents, with full 2025 figures expected in spring.
- Police reported a noticeably higher share of suspected perpetrators without German citizenship among violent crimes this year.
- Knife threats and use are concentrated among young men, with 3,482 such offenses recorded in 2024 and roughly one in three of 4,528 knife suspects under 21.
- Authorities rolled out the school program “Stark ohne Klinge” to deter carrying knives and are advocating legal changes to enable faster proceedings for minor youth offenses.