Protests are stirring in the West End. Citizens, associations, shop operators, office communities and providers of facilities protest against the possible introduction of a security guard in their district. In a joint declaration, signed by around a hundred individuals, initiatives and company representatives, the choice of words speaks for itself: With “horror”, it says, the plans of the Munich police to introduce a security guard as a political project from May get knowledge. They wanted “no deputy sheriffs” in the “manageable, cozy neighborhood”.
Critics of a security guard argue that 25 nations live peacefully together in the Schwanthalerhöhe. Everyday problems and conflicts that could arise in any neighborhood are solved in the Westend in personal conversations, with “great understanding for one another”. The signatories therefore consider the deployment of “voluntary auxiliary police officers” to be “conceivably unsuitable for ensuring an open and tolerant coexistence in the district”. On the contrary: They see “the peaceful and respectful coexistence of all people living in the district endangered”.
Rather than monitoring, what is needed are additional street workers, mediators and urban open spaces, especially for young people. On Friday, February 11, there will be a rally at 5 p.m. in front of the Köşk cultural space at Schrenkstraße 8. Previously, the possible introduction of a security guard was already an issue on the board of the Schwanthalerhöhe district committee, according to chairwoman Sibylle Stöhr (Greens), “a large majority in the BA is against the introduction of a security guard”. However, the question will not be widely debated until the next meeting on February 15 on the basis of an inter-party motion by the SPD, Left, ÖDP and Greens.
“We constantly preach civil courage,” emphasizes Pasing’s chief of inspection
A majority of other district committees had already spoken out against the police’s efforts to install security guards in their districts, such as the committees in Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied and Pasing-Obermenzing. The police, on the other hand, have had “positive” experiences with the security guard. The volunteers acted only as “extended eyes and ears, not as an extended arm” of the police, as the head of Police Inspectorate 45 responsible for Pasing and Aubing recently emphasized. “We constantly preach civil courage,” says Peter Loffelmann. “Here we have people who are specially trained for this.”
In addition, you have to face reality: if you fear trouble, the police are often asked to stop by for a moment. “But where are all the officials supposed to come from? We have the security conference in Munich, the G7 summit in Bavaria, maybe the Wies’n.” Hence his appeal to “use this very small adjustment screw to improve something a little.” Ultimately, the decision to introduce a security guard will not be made politically, but by the police.