New Year’s Eve 2025 is one of the largest planned police operations of the year. Patrol and special forces were deployed in all federal states to ensure a good and safe New Year.
The nationwide situation on New Year’s morning was rather calm, but there were a few incidents and a large number of seizures and reports.
Attacks on police officers
According to the preliminary balance sheet of the General Directorate for Public Security, there were targeted attacks on law enforcement officers with firecrackers or firecrackers in Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Styria. During the course of the operations, 20 employees across Austria were injured, 13 of them as a result of these same attacks.
At least one police officer suffered a serious injury to his hand during an arrest and was unable to continue his duties. Most of the suspects in these attacks are known and are being prosecuted accordingly.
Seizures and reports
The dedicated police officers showed particular consistency in seizing pyrotechnics: at over 9,100, an increase of almost 100 percent was recorded compared to the previous year. The state police headquarters also report 18 criminal and ten administrative arrests as well as over 2,300 identity checks.
According to the current status, 21 reports have been filed for (negligent) bodily harm caused by pyrotechnic objects, and 75 reports have been filed for damage to property caused by the improper use of pyrotechnics. 29 reports were made for arson or negligently causing a fire using pyrotechnic objects. Twelve further reports were made in connection with accidents caused by pyrotechnic objects.
These numbers reflect the incidents reported to the police; a high number of unreported cases can be assumed.
As part of the New Year’s Eve operations, 93 executive mandates and 584 administrative notices were issued in accordance with the Pyrotechnics Act and the respective state laws; 438 people were reported under these regulations.
In almost all areas – criminal and administrative law – there has been a significant increase in the number of reports compared to the previous year. On the one hand, this is attributed to the intensive control activity of the executive branch, but on the other hand, it is also due to a greater willingness on the part of the population to report the matter.
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