Being prepared for a lot of things requires broad knowledge," says Linda Aßhoff. "We do a balancing act every day between dealing with mass crimes and getting stuck into highly complicated cases that require a lot of research."
The 42-year-old detective chief inspector knows the prejudices. All-rounders are sometimes met with completely unjustified disdain. It happens in most organizations. Occasionally even in the police force.
Linda Aßhoff and her colleague Lars Erdmann are not deterred by this. The 28-year-old detective superintendent, who has been working in KK 2 for five years, finds the change from the big to the small and back again very exciting. "Sometimes an entire investigation file has twelve pages and sometimes over 1,000. Switching is what makes it so exciting."
Nevertheless, the two Hammer police officers are happy about the "highlights", even if they are a lot of work and can still be on their minds at night. "Overall, the case load is high for us," says KK-2 manager Matthias Struhkamp. "You have to be organized to manage the daily workload."
Even more so as the priority detention cases have increased this year. A total of around 20 colleagues are employed at KK 2. It's important to keep an overview and not lose your cool.
Linda Aßhoff and Lars Erdmann know that day-to-day business has to continue, even when major cases are waiting. Otherwise, their colleagues would have to take on urgent matters. You don't want to put anyone through that. Interrogations, searches, all that takes time.
"I always try to get as far as possible," says Aßhoff, who comes from Hamm and landed back in her home town in 2020 after several stops. "There's no point in rushing. If necessary, tomorrow is another day." After studying law, training, freeway police and working at a police station in Dortmund, she decided to join the criminal investigation department in 2013. "It appealed to me and I was happy to be accepted. Because there were still plenty of applicants back then."
She is surprised that the criminal investigation department is less in demand at the moment. She suspects that some police officers believe that only loners work there. "But that's complete nonsense. We're a super team here." She likes Hamm. "And the people here. Even if everything doesn't seem spectacular at first glance."
The work of the criminal investigation department is undoubtedly challenging. There are always "mega cases" waiting to be solved. Lars Erdmann, who joined KK 2 in 2018, can tell you a thing or two about them. For example, there was the series of robberies at four petrol stations and a kiosk in August 2020.
"The perpetrator was always armed with a 30-centimetre-long butcher's knife and wore a cap with Captain America written on it."
Lars Erdmann, Chief Superintendent in Hamm
The investigation later revealed that the same man had also committed six other robberies, including in Waltrop and on the Baltic Sea.
Erdmann even appeared with the case on ZDF's Aktenzeichen XY. "The total haul was only 3,000 to 4,000 euros," says the investigator. "Then the series broke off after a few weeks. But maybe Commissioner Chance will come to our aid soon." And indeed, following a crucial tip from the public, a 38-year-old man was arrested in October and is now in custody.
The robbery of a €100,000 Porsche Cayenne also landed on Lars Erdmann's desk. Masked men had threatened a 26-year-old woman with a firearm outside a pizzeria in Hamm-Rhynern when the woman had just put her pizza box on the passenger seat. After handing over the keys, two of the men fled in the sports car, while the two accomplices got into another vehicle and also sped off. The immediate manhunt was initially unsuccessful.
"However, we had obtained the number of the SIM card from the manufacturer so that we could locate the stolen car," says Erdmann. An odyssey lasting several days began, which resembled an over-the-top road movie. The young criminals from East Westphalia drove to Amsterdam to buy drugs. To Stuttgart to a brothel. And to the Polish border to try to get rid of the stolen car.
In the end, they were caught at 2.45 a.m. in Bad Oeynhausen. After an unsuccessful turning maneuver, the boys crashed into a police van and were then arrested without resistance. There was also a loaded gun and a balaclava in the Cayenne.
"I then obtained important evidence for the court hearing," explains Erdmann. Drugs, license plates that had been removed and clothes bought on the road were found in the stolen car. The chief superintendent also had the navigation system removed so that the trio's entire movement profile could be reconstructed. The two main offenders were severely punished: the older one received seven and a half years in prison. The younger one, who was still a juvenile, received six years.
Another major case that Linda Aßhoff was in charge of is currently being heard at Dortmund District Court. A man born in Kazakhstan, who has a history of violence and property crimes, is on trial there. He was arrested in June 2022 in his partner's apartment.
He is accused of robbing a couple in the south of Hamm at night in their home together with three accomplices in 2021. The intruders threatened the victims with sharp firearms and put them in fear of their lives. The robbers eventually handed over money and jewelry from the safe. They were tied up and locked in a closet and were able to free themselves when the gangsters had left the house.
The 35-year-old suspect confessed to the crime shortly before the end of the trial, but was then released due to the lengthy pre-trial detention and subsequently absconded. He is currently wanted on a warrant for his arrest.
Linda Aßhoff is somewhat outraged by this: "This is terrible." She hopes that the 35-year-old defendant will not be able to avoid a conviction. Another person is also standing trial for the assault in separate proceedings.
"This case is close to organized crime and was so big that I initially thought we would have to hand it over," she recalls. Extensive measures, including the securing of IT and the deployment of special units, were initiated. Lars Erdmann took part in all the searches and followed up on a number of leads. "We were a good team," says Aßhoff. Although the DNA analysis was difficult at first, it was successful in the end.
Sometimes, the small police headquarters can even set up an investigation commission, even if this ties up a lot of capacity. The decision to form an EC was made when a gang living in Hamm roamed the city and surrounding area in 2020 and 2021, dismantling catalytic converters from Opel models. They sold the parts for exhaust gas aftertreatment to a fence in Hamburg for good money. Because the catalytic converters contained high-quality metals, they fetched around 500 euros each - sometimes more than the car would have been worth.
"We carried out telephone surveillance on a Bulgarian," Aßhoff says. She was the file manager at the time. In the end, 51 cases were listed, also thanks to TÜ and GPS data.
