Title: On the Trail of the Missing Bullets: An Investigation into the Vanished Ammunition for Brandenburg's Police Marksmen
The Brandenburg State Office of Criminal Investigation is currently employed in an intriguing case: some 4,400 rounds of ammunition intended for sport shooters have vanished from the police's stockpile. This series of events has sparked the initial suspicion of embezzlement from the perspective of Frankfurt (Oder)'s public prosecutor's office, as they shared with the press, with the spokesperson, Ricarda Böhme, providing the confirmation.
According to reports, this inconsistency arose during an audit conducted by the State Court of Auditors, which found itself compelled to inform the Ministry of the Interior in January. Upon receiving this news, the Ministry of the Interior tasked the public prosecutor's office to take charge of the investigation in October.
The 4,400 rounds of missing ammunition were linked to a training event at a shooting range in Frankfurt (Oder) that took place on June 7 and 8, 2022. The Left Party and the Free Voters, among others, have expressed uncertainty regarding the issue. Following this incident, Left Party interior politician, Andrea Johlige, told the German Press Agency, "It is still unclear where the ammunition is. At best, it has been fired in the club. At worst, it has been passed into hands where we don't want to see Brandenburg police ammunition."
Brandenburg's Interior Minister, Michael Stübgen (CDU), acknowledged existing failings and announced corrective actions. Among his initiatives was renouncing the specialist supervisor, who was responsible for ammunition in the central police service. Furthermore, Stübgen admitted there had been a lack of evidence to identify who fired what, which led to the introduction of control obligations.
To date, only two officers have responded to the questioning of the marksmen involved in the event. Johlige emphasized the need for these officers to be made accessible to ensure the location of all ammunition could be determined. Stübgen also revealed that he had informed the state parliament's Committee on Internal Affairs about the 4,400 rounds gone missing, but not yet about the almost 25,000 rounds yet unaccounted for.
As Matthias Stefke, a politician in the Free Voters, put it, the question of why the complete quantity of disappearing ammunition wasn't conveyed on November 8 remained open. Stübgen admitted that out of respect for the Court of Auditors, he only divulged the information regarding ammunition that prompted the public prosecutor's office intervention.
As investigations continue, the ongoing mystery of the missing ammunition persists. The almost 25,000 rounds of ammunition that remain unaccounted for warrant further attention and clarification, leaving little room for doubt as to the depth and importance of this inquiry.
Additional Background
In connection with this case, it's worth considering that the Ministry of the Interior reported 19 deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers between 1985 and 1990 in pre-reunification Germany, based on data examined by the Federal Criminal Agency and the Federal Office of Criminal Investigations. The data also revealed that shots were fired against individuals totalling 1,152 during this time frame, with an average of 109 incidents per year.
German press reports do not show any apparent connection between this statistic and the current investigation into the missing ammunition in Brandenburg. The connections between law enforcement activities, ammunition use, and investigations such as the one described in this article are complex and vary from case to case, necessitating careful and thorough investigations.
References
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