Employees and volunteers in emergency and rescue services as well as civil protection and disaster management do not only receive recognition and respect for their work. Hostility and violence towards emergency services are discussed both in public and in research, mostly with regard to rescue service employees. The following study extends this perspective to population protection forces ("Bevölkerungsschutz”) in Germany. As part of a non-representative, nationwide online survey of 1,957 operational and administrative staff in population protection contexts in 2023, the frequency and type of hostility experienced in operational contexts were quantitatively surveyed and supplemented by qualitative responses regarding the circumstances of the hostility. Around 60% of respondents reported experiencing violence in operational contexts, including verbal hostility, threats of violence and hostility on the internet or in social media, attacks on emergency vehicles, physical attacks, and psychological hostility such as bullying and social exclusion. As part of the analysis of the reported hostility, differences between the organizations were also analyzed. Furthermore, differences between volunteer and full-time members of the surveyed organizations regarding experienced hostilities were also analyzed. 

Read more about this in the following publication from the project ATLAS-ENGAGE project:   

Merkes, Sara T.; Zimmermann, Theresa; Bock, Nicolas; Windsheimer, Peter; Voss, Martin (2024): Konflikte und Gewalt in Einsätzen. Umfrageergebnisse zu Erfahrungen von Einsatz- und Verwaltungskräften im Bevölkerungsschutz. KFS Working Paper Nr. 31. Berlin: KFS. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-42005.