Dark field study: Thuringians want more police presence

According to a study, many people in Thuringia would like to see more police presence in public spaces. This emerges from a nationwide unreported study involving Thuringia, as the Interior Ministry announced. Accordingly, 84.9 percent of Thuringians would like more police presence.

For the self-reported representative survey, around 25,000 citizens in the Free State were contacted between April and July 2026 and around 8,700 questionnaires were evaluated. The study is also intended to provide information about crimes that are not or not fully reflected in police crime statistics.

According to the information, Thuringians give the police a good rating: According to this, 90 percent of those surveyed in Thuringia experience the police as respectful, and almost 79 percent said the police did a good job in fighting crime. Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier viewed the numbers as a "strong signal of trust" for the police. “At the same time, we take very seriously the fact that many people want more visible police,” said the SPD politician.

Fear of fraud on the Internet

Those surveyed particularly frequently reported cases of cybercrime (17.2 percent) and fraud (11.5 percent). Compared to the 2020 survey, the number of cases for various individual crimes has increased - including the misuse of personal data on the internet. Fear of crime has also increased compared to 2020, it said. Concern about fraud on the Internet is particularly pronounced: 56.5 percent of those surveyed are “fairly or very worried” about being affected by it.

“The dark field study adds an important perspective to the police crime statistics: people’s personal experiences and sense of security,” says Maier. The minister emphasized that it is crucial for the work of the police to bring together the objective crime situation and the perception of citizens.