THERE ARE PROBABLY ‘NO-GO ZONES’ IN CHICAGO, BALTIMORE AND OTHER AMERICAN CITIES

Most Germans now fear 'no-go zones' where they believe police are too afraid to patrol, new poll shows

By George Martin

Daily Mail
April 16, 2018

A revealing new poll has suggested most Germans are scared of so-called 'no go zones' which they believe police are too afraid to enter.

The study, commissioned by German newspaper Bild, showed that 51 per cent of those surveyed believed the 'no go zones' existed - as opposed to 41 per cent who claimed they didn't.

Overall, 77 per cent of respondents also said they wished police would crack down harder on organised crime.

The figures came as a blow to German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has faced rebellion from within her own party in the past over the thorny subject of 'no go zones'.

Several government ministers, such as Mrs Merkel's Health Minister Jens Spahn, have claimed: 'There are neighborhoods in Essen, Duisburg and Berlin where you get the impression that the state is no longer willing or able to enforce the law there.'

Last month, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a trip to the Marxloh area of Duisburg - a former industrial powerhouse with a reputation for high levels of crime.

The area is one of hundreds of deprived zones where crime has been allowed to flourish in lieu of strict law-enforcement.

'I wanted to see for myself the challenges this community is facing,' Steinmeier said, responding to criticism that he was a 'catastrophe tourist.'

Mrs Merkel herself has previously admitted that such 'no go zones' are indeed a reality amid pledges to 'do something about them'.

During an interview with n-tv last month, she said: 'The state has to ensure that whenever people move or meet in public areas they feel safe.

'It means for example that there cannot be any no-go areas, that there cannot be areas where people are afraid to go - but such places are a reality.

'So we have to call them what they are and do something about them.'

Statistics published biannually by the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) paint a different picture. According to the BKA, foreigners are less likely than native-born Germans to commit every category of crime.

For example, of the about 150,000 cases of assault registered in the country in 2016, only 38 percent of the culprits were non-Germans.

The BKA's latest report from January 2018 further clarifies that the majority of the crimes committed by foreigners are things such as riding public transport without a ticket and petty theft.