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Since the beginning of the corona pandemic in the spring, Germany's regulatory office employees have mainly been busy enforcing the protective measures: They have to ensure that people wear mouth and nose covers, dissolve large crowds or close shops that have opened despite the ban.

It is not uncommon for them to be victims of violence during their corona operations in city centers or during demonstrations against the federal government's corona policy.

A query from WELT AM SONNTAG to 15 of the largest cities in the country has shown: In 65 cases, security officials have been assaulted on the streets since spring.

Some of the law enforcement officers were injured so badly that they were temporarily unable to work.

The cities report bruises, sprains and broken bones because employees were pushed or beaten - or were deliberately hit by unintentional people on their bikes.

That costs the disregard of curfew and mask requirement

In many hotspots, stricter corona rules now apply, including curfews.

In order to get the increasing development of the number of infections under control again, the police and public order offices are monitoring more.

Source: WORLD / Peter Haentjes

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There were particularly many physical attacks in Berlin, Cologne and Bremen.

The district offices in the capital have recorded 23 physical attacks on their field workers in connection with Corona operations since spring.

According to the information, there were 18 physical attacks in Cologne and ten in Bremen - six of them in the past six weeks alone.

Several city administrations wrote that the longer the pandemic lasts, the more aggressiveness towards public order employees.

"It can be seen that people are reacting more and more impatiently and irritably to measures," said the Cologne city administration.

Coughed on purpose, peed on the vehicle

Most of the city administrations asked wrote that the number of physical attacks does not by any means reflect the potential for violence that their officials were actually exposed to during their field work.

Verbal attacks are much more common, and the emergency services are spat at, intentionally coughed, coffee mugs are thrown at them - or their vehicles are kicked or peed on.

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The city administrations questioned therefore filed hundreds of criminal charges.

In Bremen there was an average of one advertisement per week, Cologne has recorded 130 so far. An operation there escalated around mid-December.

Employees of the public order office had met a father and his adult son on one of the main shopping streets of the city, despite the mandatory mask requirement, without mouth and nose covering and informed them that a fine of 50 euros per person would be due.

The son attacked one of the employees, whereupon the security forces fixed the man on the ground and called the police.

According to the descriptions of the clerks, a ring of spectators formed in the crowded pedestrian zone, bystanders filmed the scene and accused the emergency services of "police violence".

An employee who was involved in the operation told WELT AM SONNTAG that such scenes have now become part of his everyday life.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: WELT AM SONNTAG