Excessive use of force by female police officers in Germany has so far only been investigated to a limited extent. A study carried out as part of the research project “Assault in office by female police officers” (KviAPol) has now presented comprehensive scientific findings on excessive use of force by female police officers in Germany and how such incidents are dealt with under criminal law. The authorsof the study are ConTrust member Tobias Singelnstein, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Law at Goethe University, and the project’s research assistants Laila Abdul-Rahman, Hannah Espín Grau and Luise Klaus.
The KviAPol research project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and has been investigating the use of force by police officers and how it is dealt with under criminal law in Germany since 2018.
For the study, over 3,300 people were surveyed as part of a survey of victims and over 60 qualitative interviews were conducted with police officers,judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and victim advice centers. Questions at the heart of the research included “In which situations was the excessive use of police force reported?”, “How and on what basis are police use of force assessed by those involved?” and “How often is unlawful police force reported?”
As a key finding of the study, the research team states: “In the disputes about the evaluation of violence in society and the justice system following the use of police force, the police interpretation proves to be particularly assertive in view of these circumstances and thus documents the special defining power of the police.”
The results of the research project are presented in the book “Gewalt im Amt. Übermäßige polizeiliche Gewaltanwendung und ihre Aufarbeitung”, which has been published in open access by Mai Campus Verlag.
Further information in the Goethe University press release: Here…
To the summary of the results: Here…
Further information on the book: Here…
