The Vienna police will be present with additional civilian and uniformed troops next Halloween night. This was stated by the state police. “Since a larger number of people are expected in public places due to Halloween, attendance will also be increased,” said spokeswoman Julia Schick. It was also emphasized that the executive would take consistent action against rioters or those prone to violence.
The police pointed out on Tuesday that “supposedly innocent pranks, such as defacing house walls or destroying objects, especially through pyrotechnics”, always constitute material damage. If there is a violation of the law, we want to take strict action.
Special attention to pyrotechnics
According to the Directorate of State Police, in addition to the patrol service, officers from the special units Cobra and WEGA, as well as the service dog unit, the immigration police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution will ensure the maintenance of “public peace”. , order and security”. The focus is on possible violations of the Pyrotechnics Act.
Social media are also monitored
Schick also emphasized that, as usual, social media is also monitored during large-scale operations. The role of social media became the focus of public debate after the 2022 Halloween riots in the Upper Austrian capital Linz. At the time, a young person posted a video that sparked the riots. Parallels were drawn with a film about street fights and police brutality in the French suburbs.
The State Police Directorate also emphasized that the planning of today’s operation also took into account the currently elevated level of terror alert. “The currently increased police protection in public spaces will also be maintained on Halloween,” Schick said.
Fire brigade also ‘sensitised’
The fire brigade told the APA that no additional team had yet been deployed, but that the coordinators in the control center had been made aware. “If more reports of certain events are received, they will be passed on immediately and we can respond,” said spokesperson Jürgen Figerl. “Just to be sure, we also have fixed concepts.” However, the situation remained calm until late afternoon.
Vienna’s professional rescue service has expanded its forces for this evening. “Thanks to our experience in recent years, we use more vehicles – especially during the night shift,” says Daniel Steiner from the professional rescue press service.
Professional rescue service releases ‘horror video’
On the occasion of Halloween night, the professional rescue service in Vienna also released a video in the style of a horror film, which aims to draw attention to the problems of emergency calls due to trivial items. “We want people to get help. But not every health emergency is a reason for emergency response,” it was announced. It happens again and again that the emergency number is called because of something trivial.
The campaign video therefore also refers to situations from the past: needles that get stuck in the head, fingernails that get stuck in the eyes or incorrectly used nasal douches are usually not a reason for emergency calls, as is clear from the gist of the video. “Operations that are not indicative of emergency response are always a problem for us, but on days with increased frequency of operations, such as Halloween, this obviously makes things more difficult,” Steiner said.
Source: Krone
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