With police and education against violence in the queer quarter
Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg and Police President Stefan Müller want to make the district in downtown Frankfurt, which is popular with queer people, safer.
Ms. Eskandari-Grünberg, there are regular homophobic and transphobic attacks in the area around Klaus-Mann-Platz. How do you assess the situation in the area?
Eskandari-Grünberg: There is a lot of uncertainty in the neighborhood. The scene is not homogeneous, as drag queen Electra Pain recently told me. But many are already demanding that something has to happen. I say very clearly: the attacks there must come to an end. We take the concerns of those affected very seriously. It must not be that people feel unsafe in parts of this city.
Mr. Müller, you recently looked around the queer district on Friday night, what is your conclusion?
Miller: It was important to me to get my own impression of the situation. I’ve had a lot of conversations in the bars. It was also about the lighting in the district. The talks were open, but also critical of the police.
What about the lighting?
Miller: The better a street is lit, the less risk of crime there is. We will also look at the streets again from this point of view with our staff department for prevention.
What criticism has been voiced?
Miller: Two points in particular. On the one hand, there is criticism of how police officers deal with victims. It’s about shame and there can be a lot of misunderstandings. Even a smile in the wrong place can be unsettling. Then it was about the police presence, which is not high enough for some.
Ms. Eskandari-Grünberg, protection against criminal offenses is the job of the police. How can the city of Frankfurt take action here?
Eskandari-Grünberg: Policing is important, but it’s not just about that. It is also about education, advice and educational measures. What we can do specifically, we will discuss in a coordination group that meets regularly.
Who should hear this panel?
Eskandari-Grünberg: We as a city, the police, representatives of the queer community such as the CSD, the Aidshilfe, the Alliance for Acceptance and Diversity, the operators of bars, youth organizations controlled by politicians and all people who regularly and enjoy themselves in stop the quarter.
What could be the topic?
Eskandari-Grünberg: On the one hand, the development in the district. Beyond the lighting mentioned by Mr. Müller, one could consider how the streets can be made more attractive. Maybe by painting the lanes brightly? But it WILL also be about how to get victims of crime to report it.
Now the police presence is increasing. However, many city councilors who recently discussed the topic see this demand with skepticism. It was said that the reservations of the queer community were too great.
To person
Nargess Eskandari Grünberg has been Frankfurt’s mayor since September last year. In addition, the politician of the Greens heads the Department for Diversity. The 56-year-old, who was born in Iran, was head of the integration department from 2008 to 2016.
Stefan Mueller has been chief of police in Frankfurt since this summer. The 60-year-old took over from Gerhard Bereswill, who retired. Previously, Müller was President of the West Hesse Police Headquarters in Wiesbaden. geo
Eskandari-Grünberg: I know the reservations. And we will also talk about them in the coordination group. There are also different perceptions in the community. We will also consider if and when increased presence makes sense. But I also want to get those affected interested in reporting incidents. This will be a focus of the new ombudsman’s office in the Office for Multicultural Affairs.
Miller: I didn’t experience these reservations as serious either. As I said: there was also criticism of our work, and we take it seriously. At the same time, our presence was rewarded. Only distance A possible video surveillance IS viewed critically, which is why we also took it, although the legal requirements for it were in place. But building trust with the scene is more important to me.
Mr. Müller, the staff is mainly needed during the night and morning hours at the weekend. How difficult is that to implement?
Miller: The Frankfurt police are available around the clock for the safety of all citizens. We are on site with sufficient forces.
You recently spoke in the Security Committee about wanting to increase the willingness to report crimes in the scene. The Alliance for Acceptance and Diversity has set up an unofficial register of anti-queer attacks. What do you make of it?
Miller: Unfortunately, this register does not offer us any investigative approaches. I acknowledge the fight, but that can only be an intermediate step towards legally secure ads. This year, however, we have already received about 30 criminal charges with a queer-hostile background. Otherwise there are only 20 in the whole year.
Couldn’t that be a first index of increased willingness to report?
Miller: We can’t say anything reliable about that, we don’t know.
The register also describes, for example, two women kissing. A man drives by in the car and asks if he can join in. Is something like this punishable?
Miller: No, we are also taking note of an incident. But that’s not punishable.
Eskandari-Grünberg: So something is criminally irrelevant. Socially it is very relevant. I was in Toronto recently. There is a Pride Month that I would also like to see in Frankfurt – not just in the rainbow district, but also in the other parts of the city. In Toronto, a taxi driver told me how proud he is to live in a queer city. We have to go there. I want people in Frankfurt to be happy to live in a colorful and diverse city. Then such incidents will not happen again.
Mr. Müller, you talk about misunderstandings when dealing with victims. Are such scenarios also an issue in the intercultural training courses that have been announced for some police stations?
Miller: Yes, in addition to our advanced training program in intercultural competence, we will start further training courses in the 1st and 4th regions in mid-October. It’s about making our officers more confident in communicating with queer people. A respectful approach that avoids misunderstandings. On the one hand when addressing someone, but also when measures are taken by the police, for example searches.
Eskandari-Grünberg: I am very happy that the state police are doing such training. I am happy to offer our support. We can learn from each other here. For the city police, intercultural training is already part of the training. That has proven itself. For the entire city society, we must work together against exclusion and discrimination in the short term and bring about a lasting change in awareness: We are a diverse city and a queer society and we are proud of it.
Miller: The topic is important to me. We are a learning organization. This also applies to our appearance in the queer community.
Interview: Georg Leppert and Oliver Teutsch