As of: March 8, 2024, 12:14 p.m
By: Florian Neuroth
Comments
Press
Split
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has contacted around 186,000 people in Germany by post in the past few weeks.
The letter from the authority contains a request.
Wiesbaden – Anyone who finds a letter from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in their mailbox may initially have an uneasy feeling in the pit of their stomach.
After all, most people associate the BKA with very serious crimes.
International arms trafficking, counterfeit money, terrorism and computer sabotage - that's what the men and women from the federal authority take care of.
The worry lines become even greater when the official mail reaches the recipient completely unexpectedly - as was recently the case for almost 200,000 people throughout Germany.
They all received a letter from the BKA, but there is no need to be alarmed: the reason is completely harmless.
The envelope contains a cover letter, a questionnaire and, above all, a request: For the second time, the BKA is turning to German citizens as part of the Security and Crime in Germany (SKiD) survey and asking them to fill out the attached paper questionnaire or, alternatively, to take part in the same survey participate online.
Anyone who was contacted could “make an important contribution to improving the security situation in Germany,” writes the BKA online.
A sign points to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
© picture alliance/Fredrik von Erichsen/dpa/Symbolbild
In a survey, BKA asks about feelings of security and whether participants have been victims of violence
Because that's what the survey is about.
The BKA asks about people's personal sense of security in various places, how people assess the work of the police and the issue of crime itself, and also whether they have ever been victims of crime themselves.
In this way, the BKA wants to identify trends and supplement the police crime statistics.
Because not all crimes are recorded by the authorities.
The survey commissioned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior is therefore a so-called dark field study: It is intended to provide a more comprehensive picture of the extent and structure of crime.
The BKA is convinced that crime can be countered more effectively and preventative measures can be taken more effectively.
Regular victim surveys are necessary in order to be able to assess the overall level of crime.
The first survey showed: German citizens feel unsafe on public transport, especially women
The BKA had already carried out an initial survey between October 2020 and January 2021.
At that time, it emerged that German citizens feel unsafe on public transport, especially women, especially at night.
It also emerged that men are more often victims of crime, but women are significantly more often affected by sexual and intimate partner violence.
The latter was also shown in a situation report published last year by the BKA on the subject of domestic violence.
At that time, the federal government gave the starting signal for another unreported study on intimate partner violence.
My news
Partial cannabis legalization: Can seeds be bought for cultivation?read
A fine of up to 10,000 euros: You should not take this everyday object with you in the car
Italy is reintroducing traffic rules - violations can cost up to 345 euros in fines
Call back to Dr.
Oetker: Popular product contains mold toxins
Three public programs will soon disappear from cable network reading
2 hours ago
“Misleading and unfair”: Bahn reacts angrily to insider documentary – ZDF initially deletes read article
At that time, a total of 122,700 people were contacted and more than 45,000 took part.
Now the number of people contacted has increased to around 186,000 people aged 16 and over.
They were randomly selected and received mail from the BKA in February 2024.
Important: Only those who have been contacted can take part in the survey.
BKA promises to anonymize the data from the survey on security and crime
Participation is voluntary.
Anyone who does not fill out the questionnaire can expect one or two reminder letters, but these could of course be ignored, writes the BKA.
The authority also points out that the addresses and respective information are stored in separate data sets and the answers are evaluated together.
The results did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about individual people.
The address data is only available to the commissioned survey institute and service providers.
“Your name and address will not be forwarded to the BKA,” the authority promises.
The address data would later be deleted, meaning that the information from the survey would then be “completely anonymized”.
The BKA will announce the results of the survey on the project website.
After the first two surveys in 2020 and 2024, the surveys will now take place every two years.
(Florian Neuroth)