The Berlin police will be on duty on New Year’s Eve with around 1100 police officers. “We expect a similar New Year’s Eve as before the corona pandemic,” said police chief Barbara Slowik of the German Press Agency. “That means a significantly increased number of operations.” The police countered this with an increased presence of emergency services in the city area. Berlin could not schedule reinforcements from other federal states because the police throughout Germany were under heavy pressure that night.
According to Slowik, a ban on fireworks and New Year’s Eve firecrackers is planned in three areas: on Alexanderplatz, around Steinmetzstraße in Schöneberg and at the prison in Moabit. Earlier on New Year’s Eve there had been increased attacks on police officers and firefighters at Alexanderplatz and in Schöneberg. “In recent years we have had good experiences with these prohibited zones.”
To ensure that no rockets and firecrackers are fired there, the police set up barriers, check access and also search people and bags. A ban on pyrotechnics also applies to the New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate, which will take place this year on Pariser Platz. Spectators must register for the event in advance.
The prohibition zone in the streets of Moabit Prison exists this year because in the past many people threw firecrackers onto the area from the street or shot rockets in the direction of the prison. According to the police, there were around 180 alarm messages on New Year’s Eve 2018, “which led to a confusing situation and significant security gaps”. A prisoner took advantage of this at the time and escaped.
In 2019, 323 camera alarms were registered around the prison at night. In 2020 there were 46 fewer alarms because there was a fireworks ban zone due to the corona pandemic. In 2021, a ban zone was ordered again and there were fewer alarm messages.
We are much more powerful when we are flexible in urban areas and can react where it is actually necessary.
Barbara SlowikBerlin police chief
It was also thought about further ban zones, said Slowik. However, that was then rejected because a large number of police officers would have to be stationed for this and would not be available for further operations at night. “I think it’s the right way to focus inpatient measures on a few relevant areas,” said Slowik.
“We are much more powerful when we are flexible in the urban area and can react where it is actually necessary: where riots are taking place, where people are shooting at each other with fireworks, firing pistols or even attacking rescue workers.” Of course, the police also have one special attention to certain other places, such as Neukölln with Karl-Marx-Straße and Hermannplatz as well as the area around the Gesundbrunnen S-Bahn station.
Slowik rejected demands to ban fireworks within the entire S-Bahn ring. “The state of Berlin has no legal basis for this at all.” According to the security and regulatory law, Berlin can only define certain areas with a particular risk. “It is also clear that the police could not enforce this across the board. And I think it is problematic to draw up legal regulations that cannot be monitored and enforced. They undermine the population’s trust in the functioning of our constitutional state.”
If you want to significantly limit the firecrackers, politicians have to think again about a sales ban like in the last Corona year. But that is a federal matter. (dpa)
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