BAO SuSi: Police also target drug crime

Since 1 June 2026, the Bad Segeberg Police Directorate has been running the special organisational unit (BAO) “SuSi” – short for subjective security. The measure covers the districts of Segeberg and Pinneberg and responds to public complaints about a perceived decline of town centres. The aim is to strengthen the sense of safety on the ground and to push back publicly visible crime in a lasting way.

Priorities of BAO “SuSi”

In recent months, police stations in both districts have stepped up controls and operations under the BAO. The focus has been on public transport as well as the offence areas of pickpocketing, narcotics crime, illegal gambling and unlawful possession of weapons. Combating drug crime is therefore an explicit part of the operational mandate. At the same time, cooperation with crime-prevention councils has been intensified regionally so that local tip-offs can be taken up earlier and investigations more closely linked.

The directorate stresses that offences which become visible in the urban landscape are particularly likely to create unease. Increased presence at key locations, better accessibility and closer networking of investigative work are intended to counter such impairments of public safety quickly and efficiently. This also includes targeted checks that examine indications of narcotics trafficking and related accompanying crime.

Focus operation against property crime

From 6 to 10 July 2026, the hotspot units of the Norderstedt, Pinneberg and Kaltenkirchen police stations carried out a focus operation against property crime in retail markets across the Segeberg and Pinneberg districts. During the operational week, officers gained important insights into regional offender structures and made arrests of several suspects. The results feed into the BAO’s further work and illustrate how visible presence and focused investigation go hand in hand.

Such measures exemplify the “SuSi” approach: not only reacting once offences are already being discussed in public, but recognising and interrupting structures at an early stage. Narcotics crime remains a fixed part of the situation picture, because drug trafficking and consumption in public spaces often coincide with other offences and weigh particularly heavily on the subjective sense of security.

Public tip-offs lead to an arrest

At the end of July 2026, an investigative success was achieved in Elmshorn based on tip-offs from the public. Between 25 and 29 July, two burglaries occurred at a bicycle shop in the town centre. The offenders stole several e-bikes. Police appealed for information and eventually arrested a prime suspect; a judge ordered pre-trial detention. The case underlines how strongly the BAO relies on public participation and how quickly concrete reports can turn into investigative results.

For the directorate, this sequence shows that greater visibility and open communication channels lower the threshold for reporting observations. That applies not only to burglaries and thefts, but also to tip-offs about drug dealing, handovers or suspicious meeting points in the urban area. The BAO intends to expand exactly these information channels further.

Criminal damage in Barmstedt

Another example concerns Barmstedt’s town centre: from 27 to 28 July 2026, unknown persons caused vandalism, smashed windows with a stone, knocked over a rubbish bin and a traffic sign and tore flowers from planters. Nearby, officers stopped two juveniles and opened an investigation on suspicion of criminal damage. Whether the juveniles can be linked to the offences is part of the ongoing inquiries.

From the police perspective, such incidents in the core of towns are especially likely to create insecurity. BAO “SuSi” therefore aims to be present at relevant places, to interrupt public disorder early and, in parallel, to pursue more serious offence fields – including narcotics crime – consistently.

Drug enforcement within the overall concept

Although the interim report highlights concrete individual cases from property crime and criminal damage, combating narcotics crime remains a specifically named priority of the BAO. Controls on public transport and operations in town centres also serve to make trafficking in narcotics more difficult, to disrupt handover points and to uncover accompanying offences such as weapons possession or illegal gambling. The Bad Segeberg Police Directorate thus describes an integrated situation picture: visible everyday crime and more organised structures are to be tackled together.

Cooperation with crime-prevention councils is intended to help identify local hotspots earlier. Where neighbourhoods report unrest, where meeting points become entrenched or where tip-offs about drug trafficking emerge, operational forces and prevention are to respond in closer coordination. The BAO sees itself as a lasting organisational form, not a one-off campaign.

• Increased presence in town centres and on public transport
• Controls against pickpocketing, narcotics crime, illegal gambling and unlawful weapons possession
• Networking with crime-prevention councils and more intensive public communication
• Regular interim reports on measures and developments

The Bad Segeberg Police Directorate announces that it will continue to report at irregular intervals on the measures taken and the development of BAO “SuSi”. Press inquiries are handled by the press office under Niklas Stäß in Bad Segeberg. With this first interim report, the directorate makes clear that subjective security and the fight against narcotics crime are not opposites for them, but parts of the same strategy: more visibility, faster investigations and a noticeable reduction of publicly visible crime in Segeberg and Pinneberg.