Street Drinking as a Security Issue – Local Urban Security Production Between Developing Systematic Approaches and Political Reality

Abstract

With regard to security in inner city districts, crime prevention measures lack effectiveness when conducted merely in response to events and without well-founded empirical knowledge regarding local security issues. Furthermore, the transfer of scientific knowledge into practical municipal work is often undermined by a lack of communication between local security actors, municipal administration and political decision makers. In this article, we present a pilot project aiming to restructure municipal crime prevention work in Dresden. It has been conducted as part of the BMBF-funded SiQua project and implemented two work processes: planning measures on the basis of empirical data, and professionalising organisational collaboration. Both are applied in practical security work to address security issues arising as a result of street drinking (known as cornern in German) in the pub district of Dresden Neustadt. In closing, we critically reflect on the pilot project.