Burglary
A home break-in is the unauthorized entry into rooms that are used for living. Special safeguards against intrusion are disabled for inspection. The burglary of a home usually takes place with the aim of gaining possession of valuables.
In the last three decades the number of burglaries in Germany has more than halved. Burglary is often mentioned in connection with internal security .
flat
The apartment is an enclosed and roofed room that serves as accommodation for a person, at least temporarily, without the need for bedrooms. Thus, it concerns living spaces in single and multi-family houses, legally speaking not garden houses or garages.
Burglaries in single and multi-family houses
In more than half of the cases of multi-family houses, the perpetrators penetrate through the apartment entrance doors. In the case of single-family homes, the focus is on the windows and French doors (patio doors). With five percent of break-ins in single-family homes, the basement window is the entrance for the burglar. It is easy for the perpetrators to reach if the cellar shaft is not secured. In ten percent of cases, the apartment or front door is also approached in single-family homes. In apartment buildings, the ground floor apartments and the apartments on the top floor are most at risk.
Burglars use different weak points in single and multi-family houses:
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The figures given relate to the crime rate of burglary in the city of Cologne (“Cologne Study 2001”) and the rural Erftkreis (“Erftkreis Study 2002”).
Burglary tool
After most break-ins, it cannot be clarified which tools the perpetrators used to break in. In 1/10 of the cases no tools are used, for example open windows are used for boarding. When using tools, large screwdrivers come first.
consequences
In addition to the material damage, the victims of the burglary of the property also suffer from ideal damage. Objects are stolen that cannot be replaced, including heirlooms associated with memories of relatives. Many of the victims have fear after the crime, which manifests itself in sleeping or eating disorders, stomach, back and headaches. In some cases, this goes so far that victims change homes because the thought that a stranger was at their most personal belongings is unbearable has invaded their privacy.
Frequency of WED distributed among the federal states in 2014
coat of arms | country | Burglaries per 100,000 inhabitants |
---|---|---|
Baden-Württemberg | 127 | |
Bavaria | 65 | |
Berlin | 355 | |
Brandenburg | 165 | |
Bremen | 541 | |
Hamburg | 429 | |
Hesse | 182 | |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 96 | |
Lower Saxony | 188 | |
North Rhine-Westphalia | 300 | |
Rhineland-Palatinate | 146 | |
Saarland | 251 | |
Saxony | 96 | |
Saxony-Anhalt | 116 | |
Schleswig-Holstein | 267 | |
Thuringia | 45 | |
Federal Republic of Germany | 188 |
Perpetrator
The low clear-up rate makes it difficult to make a statement about the perpetrators of home burglaries. What can be recorded is an increase in the number of non-German suspects compared to the German ones. This tendency has persisted for years. Most of the perpetrators are over 21 years old. It is unclear which perpetrators are responsible for the rise in crimes in recent years. In many cases, the suspects who were caught had been conspicuous for similar or other criminal offenses.
Statistical data on home burglary
The Federal Criminal Police Office annually publishes statistics on all criminal offenses reported in Germany, the police crime statistics .
- Home burglary is a subset of approximately 6% from theft overall.
- The numbers have been falling sharply for three decades. In 1993 there were 280 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, in 2019 it was only 105. This means that the crime area of burglary is falling even more than the overall crime rate, which has only fallen by 21%.
- An increase between 2010 and 2015 is noticeable in the time series.
- In well over half of all break-ins, doors and windows are levered open or overcome with the simplest means (e.g. with a screwdriver ).
- Almost 44 percent of break-ins in Germany take place during the day .
- Burglaries usually take place when the residents are absent.
Number of cases and clearance rate
The police crime statistics (PKS) show the following number of cases of burglary in Germany for the past ten years.
year | Number of cases | Clearance rate in percent |
---|---|---|
1999 | 149.044 | 18.3 |
2000 | 140.015 | 17.7 |
2001 | 133,722 | 18.7 |
2002 | 130,055 | 19.6 |
2003 | 123.280 | 18.0 |
2004 | 124.155 | 19.5 |
2005 | 109,736 | 19.6 |
2006 | 106.107 | 19.3 |
2007 | 109,128 | 20.0 |
2008 | 108.284 | 18.1 |
2009 | 113,800 | 16.9 |
2010 | 121,347 | 15.9 |
2011 | 132,595 | 16.2 |
2012 | 144.117 | 15.7 |
2013 | 149,500 | 15.5 |
2014 | 152.123 | 15.9 |
2015 | 167.136 | 15.2 |
2016 | 151.265 | 16.9 |
2017 | 116,540 | 17.8 |
2018 | 97.504 | 18.1 |
2019 | 87,145 | 17.4 |
Criminal liability
Germany
The § 244 para. 1 no. 3 and para. 4 of the Criminal Code provides for the apartment burglary remains a significant longer sentences for theft in Germany. The imprisonment here is from six months or one year to ten years. The clause is fulfilled if a theft is committed in which an apartment is broken into in order to carry out the act, people are entered, a wrong key or other tool is not intended for proper opening or is hidden in the apartment. Protected legal interests are the property and the inviolability of the home.
At the end of March 2017, the German government decided to increase the minimum sentence for burglary to one year. This increased minimum penalty for burglary in permanently used private apartments has been in effect since July 22, 2017. The previous minimum penalty of six months now only applies to burglaries in temporarily used apartments (e.g. hotel rooms).
Austria
In Austria, breaking into an apartment is punishable by imprisonment of six months to five years in accordance with Section 129 (2) No. 1 StGB (theft by break-in or with weapons) .
Switzerland
In Switzerland , burglary falls under Art. 139 StGB theft . According to this, a burglar has the penalty range of 90 daily rates up to five years imprisonment. If the perpetrator reveals his particular danger through the way in which he commits the theft, he will not be punished below 180 daily rates and up to ten years.
See also
Web links
literature
- Frank Kawelovski: The fight against the burglary of the house Verlag Deutsche Polizeiliteratur GMBH 2014, ISBN 978-3-8011-0720-8
Individual evidence
- ^ [1] , 2.1 Definition of housing according to the StGB - commentary - in Schönke / Schröder
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , GDV Burglary Report 2015 - Burglaries in single and multi-family houses in percent
- ↑ [2] , CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NIEDERSACHSEN EV Research Report 130
- ↑ After the break-in, fear remains , Spiegel Online, March 21, 2014
- ↑ [3] , project office of the initiative for active burglar protection "Not with me!"
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , GDV - Burglary Report 2015
- ↑ [4] Burglary of the apartment - act. empirical findings from Dr. Tillmann Bartsch, Katharina Blauert, Arne Drei 30acker
- ↑ [5] Burglary of a flat - figures and developments by Henning van den Brink & Timm Frerk
- ↑ a b c d e f Police crime statistics 2019 - time series overview of case tables. (xlsx, csv) Federal Criminal Police Office, accessed on March 30, 2020 .
- ↑ 15 Burglary myths in the check on focus.de ; accessed on December 14, 2016
- ^ Welt.de: Coalition wants to punish burglaries more severely , Welt.de, accessed on March 30, 2017