The increase in police presence following massive sexual assaults on women on New Year’s Eve at the Cologne Hauptbahnhof (central train station) has now been scaled back. This information was published in “Spiegel online” from an internal report by the federal police. In the report, federal law enforcement officials complained of a lack of personnel to monitor this Cologne “hot spot.” There is a constant shortage of police at the Hauptbahnhof, especially on the weekends. The trade union of the police (Gewerkschaft der Polizei: GdP) spoke of a lack of federal law enforcement personnel not only in Cologne, but also at state level.

“The federal police force is currently unable to accomplish its duties properly throughout NRW,” said executive board member of the GdP branch in NRW, Arnd Krummen. Personnel is being pushed and pulled in all directions, leaving shortages in many locations. The lack of police not only affects the citizens’ subjective feeling of safety, but also security itself. According to Krummen: “Many federal law enforcement officers from Aachen are called to work at Cologne/Bonn airport during the summer as it is a peak travel period. Other officers from Kleve are called to help at Düsseldorf airport. As a result, police from Aachen are unable to properly control the 204 kilometer stretch of the German border, including train stations.” This means that refugees and other travelers from outside of Germany would be able to take a train to Aachen and Cologne without any police controls. (Orig. text: mk. Translation by: Geena Kloeppel)