Outdoor swimming pools in Berlin will trial a new “call for help” app this summer to combat the increasing number of fights, sexual crimes, and attacks on employees that plagued the complexes last summer.
As reported by the Berliner Morgenpost, the app will enable guests to alert on-site guards to incidents and facilitate swifter intervention in a bid to boost the feeling of security at the pools.
Riots have erupted at Berlin’s outdoor swimming pools in recent years including at the Berlin Columbiabad in the borough of Neukölln last July, which led to the site being closed due to staff shortages after too many employees left due to stress.
Staff penned a letter to a leading German newspaper complaining about “mainly Arab migrants and Chechens” who were engaging in sexual harassment of women and mass brawls on the premises while also leaving the complexes in disgusting conditions.
“Violence against pool staff is everywhere,” reported Peter Harzheim, president of the Federal Association of German Pool Attendants (BDS), last year after multiple incidents at complexes across the German capital.
The local government was forced to introduce measures to address the problem and made the presentation of ID documents upon entering the outdoor swimming pools mandatory — a measure that will remain in force.
To enter a pool this summer, bathers must show their identity card, driver’s license, or some other form of photographic identification.
Outdoor swimming pools in Berlin will trial a new “call for help” app this summer to combat the increasing number of fights, sexual crimes, and attacks on employees that plagued the complexes last summer.
As reported by the Berliner Morgenpost, the app will enable guests to alert on-site guards to incidents and facilitate swifter intervention in a bid to boost the feeling of security at the pools.
Riots have erupted at Berlin’s outdoor swimming pools in recent years including at the Berlin Columbiabad in the borough of Neukölln last July, which led to the site being closed due to staff shortages after too many employees left due to stress.
Staff penned a letter to a leading German newspaper complaining about “mainly Arab migrants and Chechens” who were engaging in sexual harassment of women and mass brawls on the premises while also leaving the complexes in disgusting conditions.
“Violence against pool staff is everywhere,” reported Peter Harzheim, president of the Federal Association of German Pool Attendants (BDS), last year after multiple incidents at complexes across the German capital.
The local government was forced to introduce measures to address the problem and made the presentation of ID documents upon entering the outdoor swimming pools mandatory — a measure that will remain in force.
To enter a pool this summer, bathers must show their identity card, driver’s license, or some other form of photographic identification.
Security cameras, an increased police presence, and bag checks are also all expected to continue to deter troublemakers.
A total of 153 bans were imposed on unruly visitors to outdoor pools last summer, a figure that doesn’t tell the whole story, with enforcement against the multitude of high-profile incidents rare and subsequent criminal convictions even rarer.
Source: Remix News
