Words against weapons – with house visits and talks with potential threats, the police are increasing the pressure on the environment and followers of the trigger-happy cliques. What were the experiences in Stuttgart?

It is not always a raid when the police make home visits to a problematic clientele. Sometimes it is just a threat address – with a warning finger. In the case of two trigger-happy groups that have been leaving a trail of violence through the region since the summer of 2022, the officers tried a so-called “offensive address” in the environment of the cliques – and in May, according to the State Criminal Police Office, around 300 people were arrested. In the state capital alone, as the Stuttgart police have now announced when asked, there were 50 people.

“The speeches were received positively for the most part,” says Stuttgart police spokeswoman Daniela Treude. This is only surprising at first glance. However, the campaign did not target the hardcore group who would never talk to the police or who are already in prison. Rather, it targeted the gangs’ environment, the sympathizers and the followers who have not yet slipped into serious crime. In Stuttgart, this includes exactly eleven young people, 27 adolescents and twelve adults.

Stuttgart is a special place when it comes to the multi-ethnic street warriors. Both cliques have their offices and branches in the state capital. Zuffenhausen is considered the focus of one group. Young men from Fasanenhof are allied with it. On the other side, the Esslingen-Plochingen group, young people from the Vaihingen district are making a pact. The Möhringen district is responsible for both rivals. Zuffenhausen police officers have also visited their clientele. “We are not saying anything about the content of the discussions,” says police spokeswoman Daniela Treude, “because it is also about trust.”

The number 50 is more of a coincidence – and according to the police spokeswoman, it is independent of the personnel potential of the investigative and prevention officers involved. Surprisingly, they did not always have to do a lot of convincing. “Some had already distanced themselves from their group,” says Daniela Treude. Family members were also interested in ways out.

The Ludwigsburg police headquarters has identified 30 young people and men between the ages of 15 and 31. Ludwigsburg is considered a branch of the Esslingen group. The Reutlingen police headquarters is responsible for the Esslingen district itself, which also includes the districts of Reutlingen, Tübingen and Zollern-Alb. According to the police, 79 people were visited there in May, mostly between the ages of 15 and 25. The Aalen and Ulm police headquarters are also busy with the series of shots, which according to the police began in Zuffenhausen in July 2022 – because there were also bangs in Schorndorf and Eislingen, among other places.

The legal investigation into the events, with the hand grenade attack on the cemetery in Altbach in June 2023 as the sad climax, is far from over. Only on Monday did a trial begin before the 18th Criminal Division of the Stuttgart Regional Court against four men for violating the War Weapons Control Act. The accused are held responsible for two illegal hand grenade depots that were discovered by the police in the Rems-Murr district and the Göppingen district.

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The original of this article “Police ring doorbells of 300 Stuttgart street warriors – with success” comes from STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG.