About "schwarze Sheriffs" and "Kiezläufer"
Helmer van der HeideSubject
Abstract:
Schöneberger Norden, a neighbourhood of Schöneberg, close to West-Berlin’s centre, struggles with, amongst other socio-economic problems, its youth. Some youth display deviant behaviour, intimidate and act aggressively towards people on the street, shop keepers and the elderly. This has also resulted in violence and damage to public and private properties. They are held responsible for causing a climate of fear and insecurity. The police have set up a prevention team to address this problem and the local government has installed a ‘quartiersmanagement’, backed by the ‘Socially Integrative City’ federal program ('Stadtteile mit besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf – Soziale Stadt'). In addition, two initiatives in Schöneberger Norden focus on prevention through presence on the street. Firstly there are the 'schwarze Sheriffs', initiated by the housing society that owns many apartments in the neighbourhood and secondly the 'Kiezläufer' of a non-profit organisation for street work or mobile youth work. Both initiatives are based on the principle of direct presence though their focus is very different, as are the results. What is their contribution to a safer neighbourhood and what possibilities are still unused?
