Police in Berlin: What's the Stance?

Police in Berlin: What's the Stance?

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Every now and then, you’ll read an article, stumble over a viral post, or hear anecdotes by friends or acquaintances, of altercations with security personnel, more so with bouncers, however, than with actual law enforcement. "I’ve lived here for six years now, and feel lucky to say I’ve never been at the receiving end of anything dramatic.

The few incidents I am aware of involving police in Berlin, however, have happened to Black or middle eastern men, less so to women, and more often in the context of, say, a protest or other somehow tense scenario, nothing touristic,” I am told by Cynthia. Bottom line, the general sentiment towards the police seems to be that they don’t cause much commotion and are fairly insignificant, to tourists at least, but that being a male of colour here means feeling less comfortable in the presence of police than in the absence of them.