City police prohibit private security patrols in Niddastrasse
The city police in Frankfurt prohibited patrols in the station district, but the company commissioned does not give up and wants to monitor even more objects.
Frankfurt – A private security company that patrolled Niddastrasse is causing a stir. The FR reported earlier this week that business people in the section of road between Karlsplatz and Düsseldorfer Strasse are happy about the presence of employees from a private security company who consistently scare the homeless and drug addicts out of building entrances. But the reporting also called the regulatory office onto the scene. The city police checked the employees of the Alybaba company on Thursday. After that, the private patrol service on Niddastraße was over for the time being.
The two security guards could have produced a certificate of expertise from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. However, a spokesman for the public order office complained when asked by FR that your company had no official license for commercial monitoring. In addition, the two men had telescopic batons with them and stated that their boss had given them these to carry out their security work. The batons were kept safe and official, according to the spokesman for the regulatory office. Security activities also had to be stopped altogether due to the lack of official approval.
Train station district in Frankfurt: great interest in private security services
Alybaba boss Karim Aly won’t let that get him down. “In the coming week we will work with another security company that has the appropriate approval, then we can continue,” said Aly and announced that she would soon want to monitor other areas in the station district. In the meantime, other property management companies from Kaiserstrasse and Düsseldorfer Strasse have contacted him and have also shown interest in private surveillance of their properties. “We want to expand really big,” says Aly.
The announcement caused a certain astonishment in the regulatory office. Manager Karin Müller emphasized: “The state has a monopoly on the use of force.” Even if the company will soon present an approval, it will remain so: “You have no powers in public space,” says Müller. There can therefore be no question of patrolling the street.
The Frankfurt health department head Stefan Majer speaks in the FR interview about his demands on the federal government and private security services in the station district.
Frankfurt: head of the regulatory department sees the use of private security services
It is similar to the head of the regulatory department, Annette Rinn (FDP). She admits that she cannot forbid anyone from hiring a private security service. However, his powers end at the property line and are very limited anyway. For example, no one may be prevented from lying down on the public sidewalk as long as they do not block the passage. The use of weapons such as telescopic batons is also prohibited.
Security contractor Aly said the telescopic batons were for deterrence only, or for his men to use only when they were on. His people should now go to a three-day training course, after which they will be allowed to carry the telescopic batons with them. Aly admitted that there were also residents in the Niddastrasse neighborhood who were not enthusiastic about his services. “It’s a little experiment,” says Aly. (Oliver German)