Improving the relationship with the population

Security technology project aims to strengthen the trust of the civilian population in the work of the police and public order service

The relationship between citizens, the police and the municipal public order service is a constant focus of public interest. Although the police enjoy a high level of trust, disrespect is on the rise, as is the case with public order officers. They are insulted, spat at and even physically attacked while on duty. Dr Tim Lukas and Jacqueline Oppers from the Department of Civil Protection, Disaster Relief and Property Security in the school of mechanical engineering and safety engineering at the University of Wuppertal are working on a project that aims to provide recommendations for better cooperation between the police, security services and the public.

Project with the city of Düsseldorf with supra-regional impact

The project runs under the acronym "EQAL", without the missing "U", and stands for the development of a neighbourhood-based exchange and learning programme. "With regard to social media, we thought it would be good to have a hashtag with a word that conveys something like equality, but at the same time differs in spelling so as not to be one among many," explains Lukas and continues: "Basically, the aim of the project is to develop an exchange and learning programme for the Düsseldorf-Oberbilk district, with the aim of increasing mutual understanding between the police, the public order service and the population." The background to the project idea is the right-wing extremist chat groups that became known within the police three years ago and the reporting on the death of the American George Floyd with the subsequent broad discussion about the so-called Black Lives Matter movement (BLM, editor's note). "We had previously carried out the 'Security in the station district' project in the area around Düsseldorf's main railway station, and the Oberbilk district is located directly behind the station," explains the sociology graduate. "It's a very diverse neighbourhood with a large Moroccan community. There is a police officer there, a so-called contact officer for the Muslim organisations. He maintains contact with mosque associations, retailers and sports clubs and told me that the work of the police has not become any easier since the far-right chat groups became known and disproportionate police violence was more widely discussed." The trust that citizens place in the police seemed to be eroding in this place, the scientist describes the situation and thought about solutions. There are already police programmes in the United States that could be adapted to German conditions, although in this country an additional special feature was included in the project planning, because in Germany "it is not only the police, but also the so-called municipal security service in Düsseldorf and Wuppertal, for example, that is out on the streets in uniform. And as far as the uniform is concerned, citizens can hardly tell the difference between the two," says Lukas. After consulting with representatives of the Düsseldorf police and the public order office, the project application was jointly launched. "We were ultimately successful with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, so the project is now being funded by the BAMF together with the state capital Düsseldorf."

Improved relationship between law enforcement officers and the civilian population

"The relationship of trust between the police and the population is actually relatively good in Germany," says Lukas, adding that it is clear that the helping professions, such as emergency services, nursing staff, doctors and the police, enjoy a very high level of respect and trust among the population. Nevertheless, relevant surveys show that certain social groups (e.g. people with a migration background and younger citizens) have less trust in the police. Yet trust is very important for police work. Lukas comments: "There are studies that say that up to 90% of all activities carried out by the police are initiated by the population. In other words, the public reports criminal offences, the public helps to solve criminal offences. It is fundamentally important for police work. And if this trust is not there, then other forms of conflict resolution gain prominence. If they don't trust the police, then they won't report it and perhaps resolve the problem themselves." What's more, explains Jacqueline Oppers, who works on the project, "that's just the police perspective. The municipal public order services have hardly been researched to date, which is why the trust values that are already available for the police are often missing for the public order services because they have tended to be excluded from larger surveys to date. However, we are now addressing these questions in our project and hope to gain important new insights as a result."

Trust in the police is higher than trust in the public order service

In an earlier project on safety in the city centre on Döppersberg, Lukas was already able to determine in surveys of citizens on trust in the police and public order service that trust in the police was significantly higher compared to the public order service and says: "This has something to do with a different presence in public spaces and with the fact that people are most likely to associate the public order service with parking tickets for parking offences" and Oppers adds: "The problem with this is that the public order service only exists here in Germany and in parts of Austria, but in other European countries it just doesn't exist like this. People who have a history of migration or flight and come to Germany can't relate to the Ordnungsdienst at first. There are also no suitable translations. It is difficult to find an English term for it. They know the police from their countries of origin, even if they transfer possible negative experiences to the German police, but they usually don't know the security service as an organisation at all."

Although some German cities have what are known as municipal police, which fulfil a similar function to the public order service in other countries, they also drive around with blue lights abroad. "They're not allowed to do that here," explains Lukas, "in future, the public order service will drive around with orange lights, and people might think of them as rubbish collectors or towing services. They are then perceived as second-class police officers or even as deputy sheriffs. And we want to change this relationship and improve the relationship between the police, the public order service and the public. Citizens often don't even know who is actually authorised to do what."

Exchange and learning programme at a neutral location

"We have decided on a meeting format that is intended to be an exchange and learning programme in which various modules are implemented according to our ideas and planning," explains Lukas. "We are currently planning five dates, i.e. five weeks with five evenings, on which police officers and law enforcement officers will meet with selected citizens from the Oberbilk district for three hours each evening and discuss various topics." A neutral location is important here, which they have found in the premises of the non-profit art and culture association 'Königinnen und Helden'. In order to promote exchange, the organisers attach particular importance to the fact that citizens also contribute their experiences and knowledge, their expectations of security and law enforcement officers to the police and public order organisations. In this way, the public order office and police can also learn from the citizens.

Role model: Citizen Police Academies

In order to break down prejudices between security authorities and civil society, the project participants consulted American role models. But after the reports on the treatment of African-American citizens by police officers in the USA, can American examples serve as role models at all? "This is a question that we are constantly asking ourselves in the context of the project, especially because everyone knows that the relationship between the police and the American population is particularly tense," replies Lukas. "However, we were on site and saw that they are very aware of this relationship. You also know that you can find multipliers in the black and white community that you want to reach with this programme. Then you have people on the ground who you can fall back on in the event of a crisis or police violence in order to keep conflicts on a lower flame." Oppers adds that the fact that these programmes have been in place in countries for many years and have therefore been scientifically evaluated is also of additional interest. It has been proven that these programmes have positive effects. "Studies that look at the effects of the programmes show that citizens know a lot more about the police and their work afterwards and that trust in the police is also strengthened in the long term."

Excursion to Boston

Right from the start, Lukas and Oppers knew that they definitely wanted to find out about the programmes in the USA when the project kicked off. By contacting the US Consulate General in Düsseldorf and the American Embassy in Berlin, they searched for a city that was similar in size and function to the state capital. "We quickly came up with the city of Boston on the east coast and found a partnership with the local police department and the FBI. In October 2023, we flew there with our project partners from the public order office and the police, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we were very impressed by what we saw there."
The fact that there was also a great deal of interest from the American side was reflected in the responsible line-up. "They invited a person from Washington who is in charge of all programmes nationwide, there was a translator who came all the way from Philadelphia and a liaison officer from the FBI travelled from Frankfurt," explains Lukas. Most of the American programmes take place in spring and autumn, so the group of visitors travelled to Portland on the second day to attend the programme there. These evenings, which are organised for a fixed group of around 30 to 40 participants and are offered over a period of six to eight weeks, each with a new theme, usually last three hours and begin with a communal dinner. The police then explain how they deal with cases and how they investigate. "You learn exciting things that you wouldn't otherwise find out. They work with anonymised case files and at the end there is a high-quality certificate, which is presented by the head of the relevant authority." That's quite something and not everyone has a certificate from the FBI hanging in their home. In any case, these programmes have now become a success in the States and have been proven to improve the relationship between the police and citizens.

A project with imitation potential

Of course, the German project also has requirements in the pre-selection of citizens. "They have to be people who are registered in Oberbilk and live there, they should be people who are multipliers, i.e. who are active in clubs, for example. And they should be people who have not committed any serious crimes, because the police and public order office also hope that the programme will present them as an attractive employer." Above all, clarifying and communicating the responsibilities of the police and public order office is a top priority, because, says Lukas, "this doesn't seem to be at all clear to the public or even within the police. The public order service also works on the basis of the NRW Police Act, but also works on many other legal bases, such as the State Emission Protection Act. They are allowed to enter homes or are responsible for the placement of people in accordance with the PsychKG ( PsychiatricIllness Act), which is the German state law that regulates the placement of mentally ill people in a specialised psychiatric hospital in the event of acute danger to themselves or others. Editor's note). It's amazing what the public order service is allowed to do." On the one hand, responsibilities and tasks should become more transparent for citizens and, on the other hand, change processes should also be initiated in the organisations. This creates proximity to citizens and builds trust.

The end result should be recommendations for action that other police authorities and local authorities in NRW can also implement. "We are concerned with the reciprocal nature of the relationship between the police, public order services and the city's population, which means that we have to look at all three sides," concludes Lukas. "It is important to continue working on this relationship in Wuppertal too."

Further information on the project can be found at: www.eqal.uni-wuppertal.de

Uwe Blass

Dr Tim Lukas is head of the Spatial Contexts of Risk and Security research group in the Department of Civil Protection, Disaster Relief and Property Security in the School of Mechanical Engineering and Safety Engineering at the University of Wuppertal.

Jacqueline Désirée Oppers M.A. is a research associate in the Department of Civil Protection, Disaster Relief and Facility Security in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Safety Engineering.