Officials say that for around a month now, there has been daily monitoring by police, on and around the Rathausplatz (Town Hall Square). 40 persons have been checked for identification, and 30 youth have also been checked for their IDs. Director of the Ramersdorf Police Station, Gerd Peter, says the police have clearly increased their presence, and banned some people from the area.

Peter says he would not describe the area as a “hot spot” but that there are areas where police monitor more frequently because they required special police attention due to the kinds of people who were meeting up there. “During the checks, alcohol has been confiscated several times. In three cases, minor offenses were filed because garbage was carelessly thrown away.” There was also a complaint filed for a discarded cigarette and a person banned from the area for urinating in public. Besides police, street workers are also out doing their work- not only at the Town Hall, but also at the public transport stops on Konrad-Adenauer-Platz and at the Brückenforum.

Citizens have called for a more attractive design of the Town Hall Square, and the administration wants to examine if a boule pit or children’s playground can be built on the green area behind the district administrative offices. Also targeted for improvement is lighting in the area, as well as the installation of more trash cans and ashtrays. In addition, the administration is currently seeking bids for the daily cleaning of the area. But part of the property belongs to a private investor, who would also have to agree to the measures taken.

Annette Standop of the Green party is a social policy spokeswoman in the city council and she said they received complaints about “unwelcome groups of people in places in the city where residents or businesses feel they are being harassed by them.” She emphasized that these complaints were taken seriously. But she said it would also be shortsighted to just send the people away as the conflict would only be shifted to another place.

The demolition of the so-called “Bonner Loch”, a former gathering area across from the central train station in Bonn, resulted in the displacement of people who used to hang out there. “The growing number of homeless people in Bonn aggravates the problem,” says Standop. She said the Greens call for the support of projects such as “Bonn Feger” (“Bonn Sweepers”), in which addicts are paid wages to clean up areas which are prone to conflicts between residents and people with drug and alcohol addiction.

Orig. text: Jutta Specht

Translation: ck