Four people died in police operations in Berlin in 2022. This emerges from a response from the Senate Interior Administration to a request from Green MP Vasili Franco. In one case a person was shot – and not in all cases the police action was the cause of death.
A man who collapsed in police custody died in February. He got there after resisting having his blood drawn. The man had to be resuscitated while still at the detention center and died a few days later – “without having regained consciousness” – in a hospital.
The result of the autopsy: the man died of “multiple organ failure, which, in addition to other serious health problems, was based on severe pneumonia, which already clearly had a fatal disease value”. The investigation into bodily harm resulting in death was dropped.
Investigations into self-defense dropped
In total, the investigations against the officials have already been discontinued in three out of four deaths. This also applies to an assignment in September in Lichtenberg. There, a Kosovar hit a Ukrainian woman with an ax and killed her. A police officer shot the man. The investigations against the officials were discontinued – due to self-defense.
The public prosecutor came to the same conclusion after the death of the homeless Marcel K. in Schöneweide in April. According to the police, officials had asked the man to leave a hallway. The charge was trespassing. K. is said to have thrown a bottle at the officers, and they then used tear gas. The officials are said to have “brought the man to the ground”, then he collapsed and had to be resuscitated.
Two witnesses and companions of K. then explained that officers had kicked K. in the stomach while he was half asleep and pulled on his leg, which had been injured for years. That’s why K. put up a fight. The police officers beat the man. Initially, a procedure was initiated on suspicion of bodily harm resulting in death, but was later discontinued – here, too, it was self-defense. The disciplinary proceedings were also discontinued.
Unanswered questions in the death of a black psychiatric patient
Only one death is still under investigation against police officers. It’s about Kupa M. The 64-year-old, who suffered from schizophrenia, was supposed to be transferred from a home in Spandau to a psychiatric hospital by police officers on September 14.
A court ordered it. During the police operation, he collapsed, had to be revived, was placed in an intensive care unit and died in the Charité on October 6th. According to the police, the man is said to have resisted violently and even put up “massive resistance” with handcuffs. Eventually he collapsed and had to be resuscitated.
The interior administration left the question of the Green interior politician Franco unanswered as to why the police had service dogs with them during the operation. Franco also wanted to know why the man’s brother was not informed until a week after the operation. The internal administration did not give a clear answer, the Spandau district office insists on data protection.
The public prosecutor’s office is still investigating in the case, it is about the question of how “the serious injuries came about”. In addition to the death investigation, investigations are being carried out into the office on suspicion of bodily harm. Disciplinary proceedings against officials involved have not yet been initiated.
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