By Danilo Gladow and Stefan Peter
Violence, drugs, homelessness – problems that Berlin has not been able to get under control for years. This will be discussed at the Senate’s security summit on Friday in the Red Town Hall. The mayors of Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg presented measures for their districts on Thursday.
Homeless people lying on benches or the floor. Drunk people urinating in corners. Addicts who also consume hard drugs in front of everyone. The situation at Leopoldplatz in Berlin-Wedding is getting worse and worse – at the subway station and on the square itself. The police are on constant duty!
There are regular special operations to combat drug-related crime, a mobile guard is supposed to ensure more security, and two contact area officers are on site as contact persons. The effort for the police is enormous.
In the House of Representatives on Thursday, Interior Senator Iris Spranger (61, SPD) gave dramatic figures: “We had around 6,000 hours of emergency services on site in 2022, and this year there are already 8,000 by the end of August!”
Images of neglect around Leopoldplatz are becoming increasingly common. So far the district is powerless Photo: Timo Beurich
Spranger was at Leopoldplatz just a few days ago and knows: “Open drug consumption has increasingly become a matter of course there.” However, the level of consideration shown by junkies towards other users of the park has fallen sharply.
Leopoldplatz in Wedding is a dealer hotspot and meeting place for the hard drug scene. Violence and open consumption on the streets occur again and again Photo: Michael Körner
The two Green Party politicians Clara Herrmann (38, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) and Stefanie Remlinger (52, center) are calling for more money to be able to tackle the problems with drug addicts and homeless people in their neighborhoods.
Stefanie Remlinger (l.) and Clara Herrmann are demanding more money from the Senate to implement a package of measures Photo: Olaf Selchow
The green ideas:
► More social workers and psychologists to care for the homeless and addicts
► More homes and consumption rooms
► More staff in the public order offices
► Additional staffed toilets at hot spots
► Free cleaning in affected residential buildings and neighborhoods
► Secure yards and front doors better to keep unauthorized people out
“Our biggest problem is organized drug crime – and this must be combated sustainably by the police,” says Remlinger. To achieve this, places heavily affected by the drug scene, such as Görlitzer Park or Leopoldplatz, would have to be rebuilt.
In order to implement their concept, Herrmann and Remlinger called on the Senate to provide the districts with greater financial support: “The fact that the districts have so much reserves to carry out such measures on their own is a myth.”
Checks have not helped in Görli so far. Shortly afterwards the dealers are back Photo: Christian Lohse
According to Herrmann, the effects of homelessness and addiction have long since reached stairwells and backyards. That’s why “a nationwide strategy and Berlin-wide measures beyond our neighborhoods are needed,” she says.
At Görlitzer Park, some residents would like to have a police station like Kotti. Will there be? “You are the budget legislator, you decide,” Spranger asked the MPs on Thursday. In other words – this also requires additional money!