Where there are persistently unsolved problems in a system, instead of announcing new solution proposals, it does no harm to first examine whether all relevant authorities are using their minds as intended. Written by Francesca Rivafinoli.
The president of the largest German police union came up with an original proposal, the world has never heard a cry for help presented in such a creative way: pay for a one-year Netflix subscription for each butterfly knife surrender!
According to the idea, such an amnesty combined with "serious financial incentives" would effectively help to reduce the stock of illegal knives in private households,
which would be very necessary, given that last year the police dealt with stabbings classified as "serious and dangerous bodily harm" in nearly 9,000 cases (that is, practically every hour), while they also had to deal with 4,900 knife robberies.
What will probably be remembered next year as the good old days, given that, according to a recent statement from Berlin's Charité hospital, they now treat two to four stab wounds per week (in addition, increasingly deep ones), while previously there were 50-55 similar cases per year.
An interviewed medical professor believes that one of the obvious reasons for the increase is the reduction of the stimulus threshold: recently, a young man of Turkish origin stabbed a Cameroonian who had parked in a jerky manner to death, specifically because he had taken two parking spaces instead of one.
There is nothing in such a situation for the cunning cop, the first person in the world's largest police advocacy group, who makes potential murderers laugh to death with his proposal.
From the outset, it is a colossal idea to be able to watch spectacular showdowns in HD for one knife for exactly one year, not a minute longer - so even the most dedicated resident would be interested in buying more and more illegal knives every year as a subsidized replacement fund.
Or there is the 17-year-old Syrian Khalil himself, who the other day stabbed three members of a Turkish-Syrian family on Váci Street in Stuttgart, which is subject to the curfew ban, and whose actions led to the Netflix proposal - the members of his close family of twelve have committed a total of 110 crimes so far committed (Khalil is the most diligent boy, with a 34-item criminal record compiled in 31 months, although his 14-year-old younger brother, Mustafa, is also twenty-one; their 18-year-old sister is now in third place, with 14 crimes).
If they scrapped a worn-out piercing device from a drawer in their 230-square-meter home, the entire family, or at least the family members who are currently at large, could go to the movies for free.
This is a great help for passers-by in Stuttgart!
When asked how 34 crimes could be brought together in quick succession, experts said: the police can easily run a number of different cases in parallel before anyone realizes that it is the same offender who steals, deals in drugs, commits violence and even cheats. - the name is entered into the database only when the first judgment was handed down.
So far, there is no news about whether there is any intention to remedy this in the midst of the distribution of Netflix bonuses.
Of course, it is not possible to go into all the details at a trade union press conference, but surely there is already an idea to motivate those who already have access to Netflix - it could boost interest if a permanent residence permit were drawn weekly among late applicants;
and those supplying the Kalashnikov could, for example, receive a return ticket for a small domestic charge.
In any case, the Green Party faction of the Bundestag has already welcomed the suggestion of the police union, basically finding the idea very good, even if they do not insist that the reward be a Netflix subscription. And rightly so: in the Foreign Ministry of the Greens, without delay, in exchange for the mere presentation of a fake passport, there was an immaculate visa;
from that point of view, a little free streaming is not the most exciting offer.
Of course, it is an indisputable fact: marveling at such foreign nonsense will not make the allocation of ultrasound appointments in Józsefváros one bit smoother.
However, so many lessons can perhaps be learned that where there are permanently unsolved problems in a system, instead of announcing more and more financial solutions, it sometimes doesn't hurt to first carefully examine whether all relevant relevant actors are using their minds as intended.
Cover image: Police officers at Cologne main station
Source: MTI/EPA/Sascha Steinbach
