BZ editor Hildburg Bruns comments on the first 100 days of the police station at Kottbusser Tor Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christopher Soeder
From Hildburg Bruns
Am I glad that the many naysayers were wrong. Those who warned that the Kotti guard remains a foreign body and is shunned by the neighborhood.
The location on the first floor is obviously not a problem either – everyone can find their way in.
It may have been difficult to recruit staff at first, but now the station is a valued workplace with top facilities.
It is really surprising what my colleagues Axel Lier and Olaf Selchow were able to observe during their visit 100 days after the start of the new police station in Kreuzberg. This wonderful transformation of one of the worst problem hotspots is – without exaggeration – a great success!
And proof that politicians have to dare something new if they want to change grievances. Perhaps the Kotti guard is a good template for other crime focuses. The Alex guard has now also established itself.
Nevertheless, one wistful observation remains: when the dealers are gone, they just set up their drug bunkers somewhere else, just a few corners away. But even that is no reason not to fight them.
No one has fainted because of the newly installed video cameras (only at the entrances). The CDU/SPD coalition has taken on more: event-related video protection in crime-prone locations. That would also be worth trying now.