When a German journalist writes a story, and there's been some situation where the cops have reacted (maybe using force, maybe shooting the guy, etc)....then they say 'known to the police'....it tends to mean that the guy has an arrest record but no one really wants to discuss this or how in-depth the record might be.
If you find a news event where violence was being conducted by some guy on the street, and the cops then arrive....'known to the police' means he probably has been a bad boy on more than one occasion, but 'we can't tell why'.
You can laugh about the use of the phrase, but it's mostly to protect the records of the 'bad boy'. The German phrase? ".....zuvor bereits polizeibekannt."
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