There are 278 new city toilets in Berlin. Many are broken into several times a week Photo: Ralf Gunther
By Stephen Peter
Is the capital yielding to vandalism and crime? As more and more city toilets are broken into, their use could soon be free!
In the past three years, the Wall company has installed 278 new toilet facilities in Berlin on behalf of the state. Fully automatic, use at 50 cents – the amount can be paid by card or in cash.
Despite the small amounts, Wall has registered around 23,000 burglaries in the toilets since December! The police were able to catch criminals in the act several times: young people, junkies, homeless people and intensive offenders.
It’s not just the stolen money that’s troubling Wall: “Especially at the beginning of the series of burglaries, we noticed the use of massive force in the toilet facilities,” said company spokesman Christian Knappe to the BZ
In the meantime, the burglars apparently have better tools or duplicate keys. Breaking into a toilet only takes seconds. Perpetrators sometimes drive up with the e-scooter and are gone again immediately.
There is hardly any income from theft and damage, but the country still has to pay Wall for the operation. It might be cheaper to offer the toilets free of charge – this is now being discussed! Alternative: using a rechargeable credit card.
The Wall spokesman: “We are currently in dialogue with the Senate Department for the Environment on how to end the series of burglaries. We expect concrete results on this shortly.”