Call for help from Paderborn: Residents fight against drug scene and noise!

Call for help from Paderborn: Residents fight against drug scene and noise!

A worrying situation is emerging on Kapellenstrasse in Paderborn, where residents are now writing an open letter to the public. The residents describe catastrophic conditions caused by parts of the drug scene and so-called system busters. Reports of consumers lying on sidewalks, unbearable noise and almost naked men on their doorsteps cause alarmed reactions.

The residents sharply criticize the city of Paderborn for its lack of measures, although promises for improvement have been made again and again. The city itself takes the concerns seriously, but emphasizes that staying in public spaces is not prohibited and that expelling the people concerned would not solve the underlying problem Radio Hochstift reported.

Safety and order in focus

At the same time, other drug and alcohol crime problems are also on the agenda in Paderborn. At the annual general meeting of the inner city interest group, the topic of “security and order” was put on the agenda. The police and public order office noted an improvement in the situation on the Western Wall, although the situation around the Sacred Heart Church remains noted as “highly problematic”. Business owners and representatives of the church community repeatedly report daily harassment caused by drug excesses, vandalism and noise.

The police have also noticed that the drug scene moves to the bus stop when the weather is good. At a recent council meeting, Markus Bürger from the CDU asked questions about solutions to the alcohol and drug problems at the Sacred Heart Church. Among other things, considerations are being given to converting a green area between the church and Florianstrasse - the proposal includes a covered place to stay with toilets and drinks vending machines, such as Westfalen-Blatt reported.

Resistance and solutions

However, it remains unclear how quickly and effectively these ideas can be implemented. First Alderman Carsten Venherm has emphasized that the proposal needs to be thoroughly examined and that no timescales or cost information are yet available. The concern that the problems will remain unsolved is omnipresent, as are the critical comments about the renovation of Königsplatz II and the move of the BOSS guard during the new construction of the town hall.

Regardless of the measures taken so far, studies such as those from the DRUSEC project show that members of open drug scenes are often perceived as a security risk, even if the objective danger is more difficult to assess. The aim of the project is to create security situation reports in order to highlight potential dangers and uncover misjudgments. These approaches could also be helpful for the Paderborn situation. The project ran from 2017 to 2020 and could serve as a template for future measures in urban areas, such as Sifo explained.

The challenges posed by drug-related crime and a lack of security concepts are clear. But as the residents and interest groups show, the will for change remains - one can only hope that those responsible in the city will finally take the necessary steps.