The driver of an ambulance was blinded near Speinshart in the district of Neustadt in the Upper Palatinate with a laser pointer and injured in the eyes. Police said the 35-year-old was traveling with his vehicle on Friday night when he was suddenly hit by the green light near a monastery. The man was subsequently treated by a doctor. From the unknown perpetrator initially lacked any trace.
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Attacks with laser pointers are extremely dangerous. In October 2017, Stuttgart had an incident involving a police helicopter. A 13-year-old had blinded the pilots of a helicopter with green light, as they circled in a search operation on the community Weissach. The pilots were able to protect themselves with special goggles - and locate the culprit.
In recent years, attacks on firefighters have increased overall - to police officers as well as ambulance personnel or the fire department. In 2017, 4527 police and law enforcement officers were victims of violent crime nationwide. In 2013 there were 3710 such cases. The number of attacks on rescue teams of the fire brigade and civil protection has been around 300 in recent years.
In the spring of 2017, the Bundestag had passed a new offense to protect it. It's about the "assault on law enforcement officers". This offense states that attacks against police officers or other public officials can in future be punished in the case of "general acts of service" such as a patrol with up to five years imprisonment. Previously, this was only possible in the context of an "enforcement action" such as arrest.
One reason for the increasing violence against police officers, according to the Deputy Federal Chairman of the Union of Police (GdP), Jörg Radek, an "increasing disrespect for people in uniform and rescue service employees." In everyday life, his colleagues often experienced: "I ask for the ID card, and I get the fist."