Only Prague 14 has a counselor from a problematic locality. Maybe others will be added
During patrols, they often talk to acquaintances and find out various information that an ordinary police officer would not even get to. “Thanks to crime prevention assistants, the police have an insight into the locality,” says Rudolf Rubeš, a spokesman for the Prague City Police. It is under the police that the assistants work.
We will get acquainted with the functioning of this program, among other parts of the republic, as well as the cities of Central Bohemia. They have four crime prevention assistants in Kladno. Kutná Hora also has experience with three assistants. This program is also running in Prague, but there is one assistant. And he is in charge of Černý Most in Prague 14.
There were two weeks ago, but one never ended the contract. It is not yet clear whether a new one will be added. According to the director of the Prague branch of People in Need, it would be appropriate for the project to be extended to other parts of the city.
“We know that other parts of the city are also interested in this project,” reveals Irena Kolmanová, a councilor of Prague 14, who is in charge of security. At the same time, however, he adds that so far no one has approached Prague 14 in this sense for cooperation. Gradually, other parts did not have to take place for this step, a break should occur.
Prague does not have socially excluded localities
The reason why there are not as many crime prevention assistants in the capital as in other Czech cities is that Prague does not have socially excluded localities. “More people with the same traits are concentrated in one place. In this case, poverty or breaches of order, “Václav Kučera, director of the Prague branches of People in Need, has long been the term. For such a place, the program was created in 2009 by the Ministry of the Interior.
According to Kučera, these localities are no longer in the sense of the word in Prague. As a result of the move, for example due to floods, they only shrank into blocks of houses. I provide a place where often poor, not very educated and unemployed people live, then the already disappeared Černý Most in the fourteenth part of the city.
“We perceive a certain calming down at the level of public order, especially in housing estates. This is most visible in the warm months, when the number of offenses against public order usually increases, “reveals the successes associated with the assistance of crime prevention councilor Irena Kolmanová, who is in charge of security in Prague 14.
Department of Security and Crime Prevention
According to Kučera, which other parts of Prague do not have such a large place as the housing estate in Černý Most should expand the importance of crime prevention assistants. At least to Libeň in Prague 8 and to Smíchov in Prague 5.
Regarding the second district, the director of the Prague branch of the non-profit organization said in connection with the crime prevention assistant: “They refused to deal with it in the past, because they would admit that there is a problem.”
However, the current management of the town hall already admits that not everything is rosy when it comes to safety and prevention. “That is why we have newly established the Department of Security and Crime Prevention. Now, within its framework, we are starting to prepare programs addressing individual aspects of this urgent issue in our country, “says the Mayor of Prague 5, Radek Klíma.
Which part of the city district requires crime prevention as an absolutely essential part of all activities that can improve the city district is not certain about the creation of a crime prevention assistant. It is necessary that Prague 5 is just beginning to prepare projects, it cannot say their specific form yet.
The mayor of Prague 8 would be interested
The mayor of the city district, Roman Petrus, was very interested in the project of a crime prevention assistant. At least according to Prague 8 spokeswoman Anna Patočková. “We definitely want to know more, so we will communicate with Prague 14,” says Patočková.
However, it is not yet certain whether the assistants, despite the mayor’s interest, will spread to another part of the capital. Only after finding out more information and consulting with the local city police will the management of the city district decide whether it is appropriate to embark on the project.
Other city districts, which do not have many Roma people on their territory, who are often in socially excluded localities, do not even want to join the project.
The mall is like a magnet for children
However, in addition to crime prevention, crime prevention assistants also have an impact on the integration of a minority into a larger society. Their effect has the greatest impact, especially on children and young people. “Here in our country, it is mainly about truancy,” explains the situation in Prague 14 by the local police officer Michal Dlouhý, who has been connected with this project since its beginning. He started in the fourteenth part of the city three years ago and Dlouhý was a mentor of the assistants who worked here.
The place where children often go to school is the Černý Most Center, which, according to the police, acts as a magnet for schoolchildren. “They have all possible attractions there, provided they have at least a little money. If they don’t, even a free wifi simply attracts them, “says Dlouhý.
Thanks to the fact that the preventist knows the people in his locality, he can then talk to the parents about the vices of the children. Because the children are already afraid of having a problem again, they prefer to go to school. Gradually, schoolchildren can get used to regular attendance. “It can be good in the future as well, to achieve higher education,” says Rudolf Rubeš, a spokesman for the Prague City Police.
This is also confirmed by Kučera, stating that children are slowly integrating into society. At the same time, when the assistant has the respect of the community, he can become a role model for children and young people. What works for children is harder for older people.
Adults are a rigid tree
“For thousands of years, only repression has been working on adults. The tree can bend while it is young, it is no longer possible in old age. If there is an age-old criminal, then it is difficult for him to agree on what to do, “says Officer Dlouhý. Even so, the preventionist can also have an effect on adults.
Like children, the elderly can see a pattern in it. They themselves may perceive the crime prevention assistant as working for the police.
“The community will start to make it more interested in public order. Because he also works there, the assistant will not trip him up, “Rubeš describes. However, not everything works completely idyllic, which is why the police officers still solve some problems in the locality.
The Crime Prevention Assistant reaps the conflicting views of people
Officer Michal Dlouhý has been associated with the crime prevention assistant project in Prague 14 from the very beginning, ie three years ago. Thanks to the assistants we work with, he received a lot of information. Trust.
What does a day with an assistant entail?
I perform a normal routine activity that I could do without it. I’ll go around the precinct and find out what’s the problem, go through the tasks set for the week. He helps me with that within his knowledge. He knows a lot of people I don’t. I get information during the service.
You go together. Can’t your presence pay for the sharing of people with prevention?
Of course it has an effect. However, if he went alone, the information would remain secret from me. It does not write any official records. But when I walk around the street with him and meet his friend, I let them talk. This gives us a lot of information, so it’s beneficial.
Do those people’s confidence increase in you when you date one of them?
Certainly in a significant way for their community. I have always tried to measure everyone in the same way before, so many Roma people had fun with me before. But there are many more people today. These are all sorts of Arabs, some Armenians and others who wouldn’t have talked to me before. We met this one during the errands.
How long do street conversations last?
One might perceive that it is not entirely part of our job, but one of the goals of robbers is to get to know people. If you don’t have to talk to them, they won’t tell you anything. It’s not like we’re standing around for half an hour. But when we just meet someone, we stop for ten minutes, they talk and we move on.
What are the reactions of the public?
It’s more of a surprise. When someone sees our assistant in a uniform that is similar to a police uniform, but cannot be the same by law, he usually opens his mouth and is unable to believe what he sees. People ask me what’s going on with us, who we’re taking. They have a number of prejudices, and what we lie about, not always unjustified. Other people congratulate the assistant on his work when they meet us. The opinions are quite contradictory.