Cologne (dpa / lnw) - At the start of the carnival season, the city and police in Cologne are preparing for an onslaught of revelers. Above all, the student quarter around Zülpicher Straße is likely to be the destination of thousands of young people again on 11.11. - a Friday - partly coming to Cologne from abroad. Access locks, checkpoints and road closures should ensure the safety of the revelers and relieve the residents. "We are very confident that the concept will work and as a police force we have little concern," said police operations manager Rüdiger Fink.
According to him, the police will be on duty that day with around 1,000 to 1,100 officers - last year there were 1,300. "We believe that the new concept will make it easier for us to act," said Fink in justification. In addition, staff are also needed elsewhere, because on this year's 11.11. there will be more celebrations than last time.
The city of Cologne wants to send a total of 150 employees from the public order office to the streets, who will be supported by 520 employees from a private security company. Access to the party zone should be via an entrance area near the university canteen, in which there are several barriers to avoid crowding, explained Dirk Schmaul from the public order office. If the crowd is too big, there is an alternative area available for those arriving.
