From BZ/dpa
In response to bullying and rampaging young people in Berlin’s outdoor pools, the diving towers and slides in two pools are now closed.
The pool companies announced this on Thursday and explained:
“The decision was not easy for us. Slides and diving towers make pools attractive for all guests. However, it is clearly these attractions that keep attracting rioters.”
Pool manager Johannes Kleinsorg explained: “We are very concerned about the renewed riots, this time in the summer pool in Neukölln.” On Wednesday evening, around 50 young guests “stormed and rioted” on the large slide in the pool.
Kleinsorg also emphasized: “We cannot and do not want to accept such disputes any longer.” The closure therefore applies until further notice. One very much hopes “that this will calm the situation down again”.
Columbiabad occupied and mobbed
According to reports from the bathing establishments to the police, rioters had occupied the slide in the Columbiabad and bullied, officially there was talk of “40 rioting people”, according to the police. When the police arrived at around 7 p.m., the situation had calmed down. The bathroom was closed anyway.
Police officers and security guards went from pool to pool and across the meadows, asking people to leave the premises. When asked, they referred to the management of the swimming pool, which had the domiciliary rights and ordered the closure.
“We showed presence and supported the closure of the pool,” said a police spokeswoman on Thursday. No further measures were necessary at that point.
It was only on Monday that there was a police operation in the Pankow summer swimming pool. For the second time in two weeks, an argument escalated and a brawl broke out in which around 30 people were involved, according to the police.
Police guards in front of outdoor pools
In the course of the summer, the well-known so-called mobile police guards should now be standing in front of selected outdoor pools from time to time. This is a kind of small police station on wheels, such as police buses, which are equipped with chairs, desks and laptops inside. The police officers then often place a bar table in front of the car where they want to strike up a conversation with passers-by.
For several years now, these mobile guards have been positioned in parks, in front of train stations or in problematic crime-heavy locations “to show presence and be approachable”, as the police put it.