Minister on a visit

Checks continue at the Styrian border

111 graduates were given a farewell to the police service on Thursday, 135 were sworn in.(Bild: Pail Sepp)

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner visited Styria on Thursday, with local inspections in Spielfeld and the Volksgarten in Graz on the agenda. And a historic day for the Styrian police was celebrated at the swearing-in ceremony.

Styria Day for Interior Minister Gerhard Karner: early on Thursday morning, there was a local inspection at the border crossing in Spielfeld with the head of the province Christopher Drexler and Police Director Gerald Ortner. The focus was on the current situation, challenges in the area of migration and the practicality of new equipment (such as a "heartbeat detector" for detecting illegal immigrants in trucks or new passport readers). For Karner, "functioning border surveillance is essential in the fight against illegal migration". Checks in Spielfeld (and to Hungary) will be extended at least until the end of the year. For holidaymakers, the motto again this year is: "Please wait!"

Checks were also carried out at the border on Thursday.(Bild: Pail Sepp)

246 new police officers for Styria
At 10.30 a.m., a historic ceremony was held at the West Police Base in Graz (Karlau). In front of around 1000 guests, 111 graduates of the police academy were bid farewell to the field and 135 new police students were sworn in - more than ever before. According to Ortner, the current 4500 employees in Styria represent a historic high in terms of personnel. There are currently 520 in training.

Three orders from me: take good care of Styria, of the people in this province and, above all, of yourselves!

Minister Karner zu den Jung-Polizisten

Finally, Karner & Co. went to Graz's Volksgarten, the drug hotspot, for a focus check in the area of juvenile delinquency. The number of suspected young people, especially between the ages of 10 and 14, is almost exploding, from 849 in 2018 to 1347 in the previous year. LH Drexler said: "We must not simply accept these social developments, but must react to them with the necessary consistency, determination and, if necessary, with severity." Minister Karner once again called for the introduction of knife bans.

Discussion of the situation during a site inspection by Minister Gerhard Karner and Governor Christopher Drexler at the state's drug hotspot, the Volksgarten in Graz.(Bild: Pail Sepp)

Since March 15, there has also been a special unit dealing with juvenile delinquency at the State Criminal Police Office. There have been 120 reports and five arrests since then.