Problems in flowing traffic are the most common reason why people do not feel safe in Hessen.

This is the result of surveys in 31 large, medium and small cities in the country.

Also at the top of the list of the most frequently mentioned problems are the pollution of public spaces and stationary traffic.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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In the larger cities in particular, parallel societies also frighten many people.

The representative surveys of the University of Giessen are part of the “Compass” project launched by Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) four years ago.

It is based on the realization that the country is safe from the Interior Minister's point of view, but that many people did not feel that way.

In order to change this subjective perception, 91 municipalities are now cooperating with the police and the Ministry of the Interior.

Be aware of the problem

It is not primarily about the prosecution of crimes, said Beuth on Tuesday at a press conference.

Some "fearful dreams" can be quickly eliminated in another way.

For example, a dark railway underpass can be quickly restored to an acceptable state by illuminating it well and removing scrub and rubbish, for example.

But that is only possible if the municipalities and the police are aware of the problem as such.

That is why the survey of citizens will continue beyond the 31 municipalities.

In this way, the objective picture of the crime situation will be supplemented in such a way that tailor-made solutions can be developed for the individual municipalities, announced the Minister of the Interior.

The state is supporting municipalities with a special program to better protect public spaces from vehicle attacks.

As a result of the vehicle attack on the carnival parade in Volkmarsen on February 24, 2020, the municipalities of Volkmarsen, Bad Arolsen, Diemelstadt and Twistal received a total of 100,000 euros to jointly procure mobile barriers.

This year and next, a further 500,000 euros are available for this purpose.

When planning urban development measures, the municipalities are supported by experts from the State Criminal Police Office.

A digital situation report is determined

According to the Minister of the Interior, the surveys showed that the subjective feeling of security, especially in smaller municipalities, is often worse than in larger cities than in the actual situation. For this reason, smaller municipalities should in future have easier access to the state's security program if they initially only want to use it to a limited extent. They could also join together to form small regions and, as such, use the advantages of the state program and share the municipal commitment to more security, explained the minister.

As Beuth reported, the police are currently developing an internal digital picture of the situation, which links objective crime values ​​with the subjective feeling of security expressed locally and makes them specifically usable for police work.

In a digital stripe map, the subjective feelings expressed by citizens are combined with the objective crime values.

In the future, the police could show more presence in subjectively perceived fearful dreams.

The FDP parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament has meanwhile confirmed its wish for a Germany-wide dark field study and called on the interior minister to advocate it at the interior ministers' conference.