A Master Plan for Public Safety – Concept and Implementation in Cologne

Abstract

Crime prevention in the community is – among other things – focused on the fear of crime in public spaces and designing them to promote safety. The article presents the three-stage concept and instru-ments of the “Master Plan for Public Safety” of the city of Cologne, which can be used to obtain action guidelines for burdened places. The multi-method mix has been tested successfully: The indicator model in stage one is used to identify neighbourhoods characterised by increased fluctuation, an occurrence of hot spots of disorder, and a high level of street crime per inhabitant. The structural images ob-tained are evaluated in stage two in collaboration with local stakeholders. Stage three involves in-depth investigations in selected neighbourhoods using the method of triangulation, in which safety is comprehensively assessed from multiple perspectives using independent methodological approaches. A focus on particularly stressed micro-segments helps to avoid labelling areas as “unsafe”.