“The police have been training for shooting rampages many years already,” said a speaker of the North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Interior Ministry, without going into detail. The training is connected to their experience in 2002 when a young man shot 16 people at a school in Erfurt. State chair of police union (GdP), Arnold Plickert says police train in similar methods used by the special commandos (SEK). “The colleagues, when suddenly faced with such a situation, can’t wait until the SEK arrives,” he says.

During recent events in Munich, hundreds of thousands of residents used their smartphones to stay informed about developments with a warning App called “Katwarn.” It is an App that warns of natural catastrophes and other dangers, and is in German, English and French. It was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute and has been available since 2010. The App can be downloaded free of charge. 65 counties and cities use this App, many of them in Bayern and all of Rheinland-Pfalz. It is not widely used by cities in NRW. Herford and Paderborn use it but most big cities in NRW do not.

NRW authorities recommend that people download the warning App “Nina”, which is also free of charge and widely used throughout the state. Bonn and Cologne both use the “Nina” warning App to communicate danger to their residents. Unlike “Katwarn,” however, “Nina” is only in the German language. This means neither of these Warning Apps are a particularly good option for residents of this area who don’t speak German - “Katwarn” isn’t used by Cologne/Bonn and “Nina” isn’t in English. One could at least download the “Nina” App and if something is happening, the user will become aware and can use whatever method available to translate.

An inquiry was put to Beate Coellen, head spokesperson for the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), as to whether there are plans to offer the “Nina” App in English as well. She said they were aware that the Munich police communicated in several languages on the “Katwarn” App and this issue will also be discussed in NRW. At present, however there are no concrete plans for “Nina” to be delivered in English.

GA-English would like to hear from our readers. Are you aware of any other warning systems or Apps for the NRW, Bonn/Cologne area which are delivered in English? How do you receive this kind of information? For users of our new Facebook page, simply share your information under "comments." The page can be found at: Facebook-Page GA-English.

(Orig. text: Matthias Korfmann/Carol Kloeppel)