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Kulmbach in danger? Citizens demand more police presence and measures!
Insecurity is growing in Kulmbach: Letter to the editor criticizes police assessments and calls for more presence against violence and threats.
Kulmbach in danger? Citizens demand more police presence and measures!
In the last few weeks, a letter to the editor has been making the rounds in Kulmbach, drawing attention to worrying developments in the city. The author is surprised by the assessment of the Kulmbach police station, which sees no increased risk potential, while more and more citizens feel more insecure than ever. Provocations, violence and threats appear to be increasing in the city. In his letter he calls for clearly visible action by the police and emphasizes that security comes from presence and consistent intervention, not from appeasement. At the same time, he emphasizes the committed work of the police, but would like to see clear measures and support in order to regain the trust of the citizens.
Another critical point in the letter is that there are fewer and fewer video recordings of incidents by the investigating authorities, which indicates a lack of trust in them. “What happened to Kulmbach?” the author asks himself, recalling that the city was once considered safe. That feeling now seems to be at stake. Citizens' entire sense of security is caught in a vicious cycle, as numerous studies have shown.
Police presence and feeling of security
The question of how police presence affects citizens' sense of security is currently being examined in scientific studies. A recent study by the Justus Liebig University in Giessen has shown that our idea of security in this context is quite complex. Contrary to the obvious assumption that more police presence also means more security, the results of this study give great importance to the “presence paradox”. Citizens report that an increased police presence makes them feel less safe. “This is really amazing,” said project manager Tim Pfeiffer. People often associate the presence of police officers with an increase in problems in the community, so a desire for more police also leads to a growing feeling of insecurity.
Similar observations took place in Kassel, where the police had an increased presence in various areas. Citizen surveys showed that these measures did not make people feel safer. The experiment in this collaboration with the North Hesse Police Headquarters shows once again that preventive police presence, for no apparent reason, does not increase the feeling of security, but can often even have the opposite effect. What is worrying is that this phenomenon is being seen in many cities and citizens continue to demand real solutions - not just police visibility.
The developments in Kulmbach raise fundamental questions and make it clear that it is not just about the number of police officers on the street. Measures must be taken specifically and carefully in order to actually improve citizens' sense of security and not have the opposite effect. At the same time, there is hope that people's concerns will be taken seriously and appropriate measures will be taken to make Kulmbach a place where people feel safe again.
For more information on similar topics you can read the reports from In Franconia, Echo Online as well as Northern Bavaria to use.