Ausmaß und Entwicklung der Messerkriminalität in Deutschland: empirische Erkenntnisse und kriminalpolitische Implikationen

Knife crime has been intensively discussed in Germany’s media and political debates in the last few years. Particularly the question of whether there has been a considerable increase in knife crime has been controversially debated but also whether there is a relationship with nationality and ethnicity. Despite these intensive discussions, there are comparatively little empirical data on this issue—at least in the German-speaking language area. The present article examined the phenomenon of knife crime based on data derived from the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate. For this purpose, the verdicts of a total of 519 persons convicted of a serious violent crime with final sentencing were included in the analyses, including convictions in the years 2013 (n = 253) and 2018 (n = 266). The data were compiled by the Ministry of Justice of Rhineland-Palatinate. The results showed no statistically significant differences between knife crime and severe violent crime overall regarding the studied variables, particularly nationality/ethnicity. Similarly, a massive increase in knife crime from 2013 to 2018 could not be found. Only the difference between knife crime and general severe violent crime in terms of culpability assessment was highly significant in 2013 and 2018. Therefore, the results of the present study could not serve as an indicator for an urgent need for immediate crime policy implications.