New Year’s Eve 2016/2017 Security measures in Bonn
Bonn · Police and city officials have coordinated security efforts to ensure that what happened in Cologne last year does not happen in Bonn this New Year’s Eve. 200 additional police will be on duty.
“Our motto is: We are present and flexible,” said the officer-in-charge of operations, Gerd Mainzer. Areas like Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, the shore along the Rhine and some spots in Bad Godesberg are expected to receive special attention but police say they are prepared to move to wherever they are needed. Thousands of visitors come to the fireworks on the Rhine every year. An extra 200 police will be on duty this year as well as 20 additional city employees.
Bonn’s Hauptbahnhof (central train station) will also be on police radar. They fear that all of the measures being taken in Cologne might send potential offenders to Bonn instead. “Federal police control the entire route along the Rhine,” said Mainzer. Local police will maintain an active exchange of information with them. They will also be in touch with the Technical Relief Agency (THW), which has the possibility to illuminate an area of around three to four soccer fields “built up within a very short time,” explained Mainzer.
More female police will be on duty in case there is a need to record sexual harassment complaints. Many traffic controls are planned, and if need be, roads may be blocked.
In Bonn, there is no special ban on fireworks. For the first time, however, there will be teams of police and public order officers controlling highly frequented areas. Other areas of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) are also preparing with extensive security precautions for New Year’s Eve.
(Orig. text: Ayla Jacob)
