Berlin's Anti-Gun-Crime Unit 'Ferrum' Set to Run Until Summer 2027

According to Tagesspiegel reporting, Berlin's specialist gun-crime unit BAO Ferrum is set to remain operational until summer 2027. The unit — whose name is Latin for "iron" — was established in November 2025 following a sharp rise in shootings across the city from the summer of that year. Investigators say the caseload has grown so large that additional officers and many more months are needed to work through the known cases alone. Berlin's police headquarters declined to comment on any concrete plans for Ferrum. The last official announcement came in March 2026, when Police President Barbara Slowik Meisel said the unit would be extended by six months. Since its founding, Ferrum has opened 708 investigation proceedings, secured 77 arrest warrants and confiscated 73 firearms. The unit currently has 110 officers, with around 25 forming the core investigative team. In February 2026, the Berlin justice system established a parallel unit, EG Telum, within the organised crime division of the public prosecutor's office to handle Ferrum cases; by the end of September it had filed 19 indictments, with initial custodial sentences handed down but not yet final. In the first half of 2026, Berlin police recorded 585 firearms-related cases, up from 561 in the same period of 2025. Of those, 65 involved live rounds being fired, resulting in 118 victims and two fatalities. Two separate shooting incidents on the night of Wednesday underscored the ongoing problem: a 31-year-old was shot outside a venue in Lichtenrade, and four shots were fired in Spandau, leading to the arrest of four men aged 21 to 31.