Youth violence in Zurich – The focus on the Utoquai is not enough
The focus on the Utoquai is not enough
Violence by minors is increasingly being committed in public spaces. The city has launched a prevention project and says the situation has calmed down. There are warning signs from rural communities.
New figures from Zurich’s youth prosecutor’s office show that the number of criminal proceedings against young people has increased in the canton. Compared to the previous year, 14.5 percent more procedures were opened in 2021, a total of 5961. Around every sixth case was an act of violence, which can range from a slap in the face to a knife attack. Overall, the number of these offenses increased from 914 to 1,014. Measured against the growing population, however, the trend is reversed: the rate of violent young people has fallen from 1.1 to 0.9 percent since 2010.
According to the statement by the chief juvenile prosecutor, three trends have become more pronounced: the perpetrators, mostly male, tend to be a little younger (average: 15.5 years), and violent acts are increasingly being committed from within groups and in public spaces.
Focus goes away from the Utoquai
A few years ago, the city of Zurich realized that there was a need for action in public places. At the Utoquai it degenerated repeatedly, there were stabbings, violence against young people, but also against officials. The city then launched the “Surplus” prevention project, in which the Zurich city police, the SIP Züri, the Zurich community centers, a bus – advice on four wheels, Saferparty Streetwork and the addiction prevention center are involved.
According to project manager Martina Schneider, the situation has calmed down. The coexistence of the different groups in public space works better than it did a few years ago. “It is difficult to say whether this is just a surplus effect, since the start overlapped with the corona pandemic.”
Last weekend “Surplus” started the third and first season of post-Covid measures. While the focus was still on the Utoquai in 2020, the employees of the organizations involved are now looking for contact with the young people at several hotspots. “We already felt in 2020 that the stronger presence of outreach youth work, but also of the police, has a calming effect.” That’s why we decided to get active elsewhere in the city.
Not just vodka bottles and speakers
The members of the “Surplus” network encounter very different dynamics. Schneider: “The Obere Letten, for example, is a mixed social space; music is heard, skaters are out and about, but alcohol is also drunk, in pubs and outside, and there are young and old people there.” Such mixing has a de-escalating effect.
While alcohol or littering are the main topics at Utoquai or Stadelhofen, the evaluations by “Surplus” also show that everything in public space is not just about boom boxes and vodka bottles. At the Blatterwiese, for example, there is a high proportion of young people who play sports or make music, says Schneider.
Thanks to these findings, “Surplus” will adapt the cases more individually to the different locations. Schneider gives an example: “If we find that a conspicuous number of drugs are being used in a place, it makes sense to go there with the experts from Saferparty Streetwork.”
The start last weekend was relatively quiet, says the project manager. And this despite the nice weather.
Warning signs in rural communities
Marco Bezjak expects that this calm will probably disappear with the rising temperatures. He is President of the Mojuga Foundation, which carries out open youth work on behalf of 19 municipalities in the canton of Zurich. “Recently, reports of violent incidents involving young people have increased,” he says. Littering and noise complaints have also increased since spring has arrived. “The pandemic has frustrated many young people and made adults thinner at the same time.”
For Bezjak, it is logical that the problem is becoming more acute in public space, as the figures from the senior youth prosecutor show. “When people want to go to a place but are not welcome there, conflicts arise.” For him it is clear: There is a need for more places in the communities where the young people can appropriate them and where open youth work could have an effect. “But the reality is different, there is hardly any space for young people and it only becomes an issue when there is already a fire.”
Bezjak sees the first warning signs of escalation: “In various communities we see groups that are very destructive.” The young people are dependent on the public space, he says. They have hardly any money and hardly any retreat options such as their own apartments. “They want to get out whenever they can, sometimes too – not everyone has a relaxed atmosphere at home.”
Patrick Siegrist is a prominent head of Zurich politics and business. He also writes code for stories. He may be doing political science at the University of Zurich and has been with the “Tages-Anzeiger” since 2015.
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