Enhancing Community-Police Relations in Oberbilk, Dusseldorf
At Düsseldorf City Hall, interior minister Herbert Reul, acting police chief Silke Wehmhörner, Christian Zaum from the Ordnungsdezernent, Heiko Werner from the Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees, and an academic team from Bergische Universität Wuppertal, unveiled the fresh EQAL project on June 6th. The objective? To bridge the gap between police, local authorities, and citizens by eliminating prejudices and building trust.
The missing link, it seems, is often a lack of respect and understanding towards law enforcement. With EQAL, a neighborhood-centric exchange and learning program is being developed to foster mutual understanding. The primary focus? Citizens with a migration background – the areas of most urgency.
In 2023, a plethora of stakeholders including neighborhood disputes committees, local authorities, police, and the community will join forces to tackle issues in a series of modules. These modules will then be discussed in workshops with Oberbilker citizens the following year. As to the selection method for citizens and the specific module content, these details remain undefined.
More than just help during emergency response, Franco Clemens, a street worker in Lessingplatz Oberbilk, expressed a desire to see street workers involved in the project. In response, Mr. Zaum confirmed the intention to do so. Clemens also inquired about enhancing police presence within the neighborhood for closer interactions. Acting police president Wehmhörner responded, there are four district officers in Oberbilk.
Going a step further, a scientific approach will be employed. However, doubts linger about the effectiveness of the provided flyer's message in connecting with the common citizen. It centers around "ethnically-social groups" in "diversity-marked city districts," and the "erosion" of trust, the "piloting" of an exchange and learning program, and the "recruitment of participants."
The hope is to develop a citizen-friendly format – one that is comprehensible and surely in the vernacular. Apart from building trust between police and citizens, the local authority's image will also be improved. Negative perceptions of the OSD are common, regardless of nationality.
Since the 1980s, cultivating citizen-friendly work by police and local authorities has been regarded as key to enhancing relationships with society. The EQAL project follows American models, with the aim of breaking down mutual prejudices and establishing a foundation for proactive cooperation.
Particularly, the project's goals are to offer insights into the roles, rights, and obligations of the police and local authorities, to facilitate encounters between citizens and security and public order authorities without any triggers, promote mutual comprehension, and foster understanding of each other's perspectives in a low-threshold manner.
Avoiding conflict situations is crucial for everyone involved. Therefore, advocating for a long-term sustainable mutual understanding in the shared interest of a secure living environment sets a significant precedent, not just for our state capital, but beyond. The Bergische University Wuppertal is thrilled to play a part in this intriguing challenge.
Following the 2024 workshops, the results will be evaluated. If the findings prove positive, the concept will be attempted to be implemented in other locations.
In the context of the EQAL project, a neighborhood-centric exchange and learning program is being developed to foster mutual understanding, encompassing home-and-garden settings and lifestyle matters, as these areas are crucial in building relationships between citizens and authorities. The aim is to create a citizen-friendly format that encourages dialogue and improves trust, not just in Oberbilk, but across diverse city districts.
The hope is that this project will bridge the gap between people of various ethnic backgrounds and the police, helping to erase prejudices and enhance cooperation, thereby establishing a safer and more harmonious lifestyle for all residents.
