The nocturnal alcohol ban in James-Simon-Park and Monbijoupark has met with criticism from the Berlin Police Union (GdP). "The Mitte district makes it easy for itself," said GdP spokesman Benjamin Jendro on Friday. "There is still a lack of a clear concept for the people in the district and ultimately it is nothing more than a helpless attempt to evade responsibility here again." Jendro sees further burdens on the police. Ultimately, trust is "that the police and fire brigade, as always, solve all problems in this city".
The Mitte district said on Friday that the procedure had been coordinated with the police. "A request for administrative assistance has already been made to the Berlin police for today and tomorrow evening," the district said. This was received by the police on Friday, said a police spokeswoman. It must be examined to what extent it is possible to react to this in the short term. However, the police are "in action every day in Berlin parks" anyway.
After riots at parties in the two parks, the Mitte district office issued a nocturnal alcohol ban. This applies from Friday evening until September 11th. During this time, no alcohol may be carried into the facilities between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., as the district office announced on Thursday. The district justified its decision with “party excesses”, which had happened again in the past few weeks.
"The ban should and must be enforced mainly by the Berlin state police," said a spokesman for the district office on Friday. The employees of the district's general security service are only on duty until 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Before the ban was issued, there were talks and "nocturnal site visits" with the police. "The measure was jointly assessed as expedient," the district said. The police were aware of the district's considerations in advance, the police spokeswoman said.
In the coming weeks, the district wants to support the police by having employees of the public order office on site on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. "within the available resources". According to the authorities, the public order office in Mitte has more than 50 employees who are authorized to enforce the nocturnal alcohol ban.
However, this has a preventive character, according to the spokesman. It should make it clear that the district does not accept the impairment of its green spaces "for violent excesses". For this it is possible to pronounce space references and ensure alcoholic beverages. If reports are necessary, a warning of 50 euros or a fine of between 100 and 3000 euros is possible.
The police cleared James Simon Park last weekend when around 250 people celebrated there. The police had described the atmosphere as heated and loud. Individual groups would have repeatedly ignited pyrotechnics. The police also had to intervene in Volkspark Friedrichshain and Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg. On the previous weekends, there had also been police operations due to similar incidents. From the perspective of the Mitte district, alcohol consumption is a "main catalyst" for such misconduct.
The Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, which is responsible for the popular Volkspark, for example, does not want to ban alcohol regardless of the problems. One reason given by a spokeswoman was that this was hardly enforceable given the capacity of the public order office. There are 32 employees who are responsible for a district with around 300,000 inhabitants and “a lot of life in public space”.
Last year there were numerous police operations in the parks in Berlin. At that time, due to closures due to the corona pandemic, even more people went to the parks for parties. There were sometimes violent clashes between revelers and police officers. The Mitte district had also issued restrictions for James Simon Park at the time. According to Interior State Secretary Thorsten Akmann, the Interior Senate is now working together with the districts on a common line.
