Managing urban safety and security in Germany: Institutional responsibility and individual competence
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Bernhard Frevel |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370812473540 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
European Journal of Criminology
10(3) 354 –367
© The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370812473540
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Managing urban safety
and security in Germany:
Institutional responsibility and
individual competence
Bernhard Frevel
University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Management of North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany
Abstract
After a short description of the broad field of urban security problems in Germany and a
concentration on aspects of crime and disorder, the main institutions responsible for taking
action on these problems – the police, local authorities and social services – are discussed. The
institutional responsibilities are differentiated in terms of their statutory duties, and the individual
competences for undertaking managerial responsibilities in this field are analysed against the
background of the higher education system for training in public services in Germany. The need
for collaboration in Crime Prevention Councils and Public Order Partnerships will be sketched
out. The skills that already exist and those that are additionally needed for managing urban
security are discussed along with the appropriate role of higher education in equipping managers
with these skills.
Keywords
Higher education, partnerships, police, public services, urban security
Urban safety and security problems
The discussion about safety and security, public order and incivilities in villages and cities
intensified in the 1990s and early 2000s in Germany. Particular emphasis was placed upon
problems of (juvenile) violence in public spaces (see Kilb, 2009), drugs and drug-related
crime (see BzgA, 2008), neglect of young people associated with deviancy (Dollinger and
Schmidt-Semisch, 2011) and the phenomenon of domestic violence (Schröttle and Müller,
2004). Also a debate on criminal hotspots and places arousing fear in German cities was
Corresponding author:
Bernhard Frevel, University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Management of North Rhine-
Westphalia, Nevinghoff 8–10, 48147 Münster, Germany.
Email: bernhard.frevel@fhoev.nrw.de
473540EUC10310.1177/1477370812473540European Journal of CriminologyFrevel
2013
Article
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