Talks between Weimar and Jena

Ralf Kirsten, Mayor and First Deputy Mayor of the city of Weimar, visited Benjamin Koppe, Head of Finance, Security and Citizen Services, for a working meeting.

Both are also the heads of the respective municipal crisis teams. In this role, there have already been several intensive consultations on the coronavirus pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic in Thuringia in particular, the cities of Jena and Weimar also coordinated their approach with other larger cities and districts when various state regulations had not yet been initiated. This contact will now be extended to other areas.

Among other things, the tasks of the municipal public order offices were discussed. Both cities are currently experiencing increasing problems with groups of young people disturbing the peace in public places and often getting into fights. The reports of clashes between groups of young people in Jena's Paradiespark are not just a problem for the city of Jena. Such conflicts among young people can also be observed in Weimar and other cities in Thuringia. Kirsten, who has been head of the Weimar police station for many years, is aware of the tense personnel situation of his former colleagues. No situation should arise in which the security authorities are permanently overstretched.

In this context, Benjamin Koppe also emphasizes a common demand to the state of Thuringia: "The police in the state need more support. This doesn't just concern finances and the urgently needed better staffing. A climate of respect towards colleagues in the security authorities must also be re-established. Everyday abuse of the emergency services - increasingly also against the fire department - must not become the norm. The state government and the Minister of the Interior in particular are called upon to act here."