Mannheim Police currently need to answer a few questions. Videos are circulating online showing a police officer hitting a man on the ground on the head. It is still unclear why the officers did not activate their body cameras on their bodies during the operation.
According to the LKA and the prosecution, a doctor at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim first informed police about the 47-year-old patient who needed help. The two police officers and the doctor were looking for the man and found him downtown. “He certainly didn’t follow the officers’ instructions to stop,” said LKA boss Stenger. You can also see in the videos that he resisted, “that there are movements, that there are beats”. But one shouldn’t be fooled by individual video sequences, he said.
30 witnesses
According to the LKA, about 30 witnesses have come forward so far. In addition, more than 70 videos were made available – according to the president of the LKA, it is still unclear to what extent some of them were identical videos. According to the police, 150 proceedings were also initiated due to scathing comments on social media. From the point of view of Mannheim President Siegfried Kollmar, the case will cost the police a lot of confidence in the city. “We’re going to need a few weeks and months before we regain confidence,” Kollmar said Wednesday in Mannheim. “Our efforts paid off.”
The men have been with the police for several years. “These are colleagues who already have a year or two of service,” Stenger said. According to the Public Ministry, officials have not yet commented on the process. As far as he knows, they have not yet become visible, said senior public prosecutor at the Mannheim public prosecutor’s office, Romeo Schuessler.
Clarification only after days
It remains unclear whether the 47-year-old died violently or naturally. The man also had heart failure. The man was first revived last Monday after the collapse, but later died in hospital. According to the police and the Public Ministry, he had previously resisted. The two officers involved are now being investigated on suspicion of causing bodily harm in the post resulting in death. According to Mannheim Police Chief Siegfried Kollmar, they were suspended from service.
According to the State Criminal Police Department, the numerous unanswered questions about the death of a man during a police check in Mannheim could only be answered in six to eight weeks. According to the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA), traces of brute force were found on the body. However, these were “low intensity”, LKA president Andreas Stenger said on Wednesday after the autopsy of the man’s body.