It was probably the safest trip in the history of the U6: Accompanied by dozens of police officers, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Police President Gerhard Pürstl went on a local inspection along the subway. The reason: a – satisfied – interim report in the fight against youth crime.
Even top officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Criminal Police and the National Criminal Investigation Department took out their mobile phones to take photos: after all, it is not every day that you see ‘the bosses’ riding together in the metro. Karner and Pürstl did not choose the location of their evening excursion by chance: they wanted to demonstrate that Vienna remains “one of the safest large cities in Europe” along the Belt and presented new figures from the Task Force against Youth Crime to prove this.
6604 ads since March
The national task force was launched in March after a cluster of relevant incidents in Vienna. In reality, however, this concerns all crime in public spaces: of the 6,604 reports across Austria in eight months, 1,698 were made by young people, and 87 of the 793 total arrests. However, the share of young people who confiscated weapons was higher: 37 of the 107 seized weapons, mainly knives, belonged to young people.
The number of crimes has fallen by a third
The task force was needed to “clean up,” Karner said. Significant progress has already been made, Pürstl said, referring to current figures. Youth crime and crime in public spaces have fallen significantly since July; instead of about 90 cases per month, it is now about 60 per month. For his part, Karner said, “If we could just prevent one stabbing, it would have paid off.”
Karner adheres to the bill on the knife ban
However, Karner and Pürstl agreed: just as police operations took place regularly before the creation of the task force, they will continue to be necessary. Vienna’s no-gun zones also served as an important tool, and both supported their continuation – as long as there was no general law banning knives. The Ministry of the Interior presented a bill for this in the summer, but it was rejected by the previous green coalition partner because it was too complicated and vague.
However, Karner remains silent on his bill. This comes “directly from police work” and is therefore “certainly practical”. He was confident that his bill would be passed without compromises or changes under an upcoming new government with the participation of the ÖVP and thus provide the executive branch in Vienna and the entire country with new means to deal with armed criminals.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
