Crime prevention advisory board

What is the Crime Prevention Advisory Board of the City of Idar-Oberstein (KPB)?

The KPB is a municipal committee for crime prevention that was founded in April 1998 with the support of the Crime Prevention Coordination Center of the Ministry of the Interior, Sports, and Infrastructure in Mainz. Permanent members, chaired by the department head of the Public Order Office, include the chiefs of the local police stations (General Police and Criminal Investigation Division) as well as the respective heads of the Public Order Office and the City’s Youth Welfare Office. The Public Order Office is responsible for the day-to-day management of the committee. When necessary, this core committee is expanded to include experts, and working groups may be formed depending on the task at hand.

For questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact the Advisory Board’s office at the following phone numbers:
Deputy Mayor Marx (Chair) 64-202,
Christel Hahn (Office) 64-320.

The office is located in Building 2 of City Hall, Georg-Maus-Str. 2, Room 302; email address: ordnungsamt@idar-oberstein.de or christel.hahn@idar-oberstein.de.

What are the KPB’s responsibilities and goals?

The often isolated activities of the various government agencies, associations, and groups are to be permanently linked and coordinated through ongoing review, so that we can join forces to counter rising crime rates and prevent criminal offenses. Other priorities include improving the public’s sense of safety through education, support, and counseling for community groups, as well as participation in victim assistance.

How can these goals be achieved?

The KPB does not replace law enforcement by the police, nor the diverse activities of youth welfare offices, social services, countless private institutions, or even the fundamental role of parenting in the home. Rather, the KPB serves a coordinating and guiding role, using relevant information and targeted support to generate the necessary momentum. In keeping with the motto “If you do nothing, you’re complicit,” every individual should be encouraged—whether alone or in a group—to take the initiative and, especially when witnessing crimes, to act in accordance with the core principles: Do not look away, help thoughtfully, and be available as a witness.

Are there crime prevention committees in other cities and municipalities as well?

In Rhineland-Palatinate, there are over 100 additional municipal committees, some of which take a wide variety of organizational forms and have different priorities depending on local conditions, but all pursue the same goal: reducing crime through early intervention, education, assistance for those affected, and the elimination of conditions that foster crime. There is a regular exchange of ideas through the Crime Prevention Coordination Center. At the state level, the State Prevention Council serves as the highest decision-making body. Information on prevention measures in Rhineland-Palatinate is available online at“www.kriminalpraevention.rlp.de.”

02/2015 Published by the City of Idar-Oberstein, Public Order Office, Georg-Maus-Str. 2, Tel. 06781/640, Fax 64-446