The overarching goal of the cooperation is to strengthen the long-term and trusting collaboration between cooperating partners. The Dortmund Police Headquarters and civil society actors from Dortmund's urban society are working together to ensure the highest level of democracy and security for all citizens in Dortmund on the basis of dialog, trust and cooperation. This also includes sensitizing the police to the perspective of the migrant community and their concerns.
After the tragic and fatal incident in Dortmund's Nordstadt district in August 2022, the Dortmund police received information from some members of the community that they were not offering individual groups in Dortmund society, including those with a migration background, the opportunity for direct dialogue. The Dortmund police took this information on board and Chief Constable Gregor Lange set up the "Dialogue" working group at police headquarters on 7 September 2022. The aim of this working group was and is to continue and intensify the numerous existing dialog formats, particularly in the Nordstadt district, but also in other areas of the city of Dortmund, as well as to develop new formats.
"My more than 3,500 employees do difficult and challenging work around the clock and always in the public eye. We are responsible for the safety of the people in our area of responsibility on a daily basis. Our society is changing, becoming more diverse and more demanding. Our claim is that we need a high level of trust in all parts of our population. And this trust in state institutions and even in our democracy has been declining recently. We want to work together to counteract this," says Police Chief Gregor Lange, explaining his reasons for setting up the "Dialogue" working group at Dortmund Police Headquarters. In addition to the networks, working groups and meeting formats that have been in place for many years, the working group made contact with organizations, clubs and associations in the Nordstadt district. Specifically, these were:
AFRIDO c/o Africa Positive e.V., Dietrich-Keuning-Haus forumJUGEND! e.V., Integrationsrat der Stadt Dortmund, Multikulturelles Forum e.V., Planerladen gGmbH, Projekt Ankommen e.V., Rat der muslimischen Gemeinden in Dortmund, Train of Hope Dortmund e.V., Unternehmen.Bilden.Vielfalt e.V., Verbund sozial-kultureller Migrantenvereine Dortmund e.V., Verein Kamerunischer Ingenieure und Informatiker e.V.
In regular meeting formats, the participants met to put on the famous "glasses of the other" in an intensive process of getting to know each other and networking, and to use this change of perspective to reduce reservations and initiate a trust-building and -promoting process in various formats. For example, the formats "Looking into the police" and "Looking into the organization" were developed to support these processes. In addition, the complaints management system of Dortmund Police was introduced to people and, in a second step, made multilingual, to name just a few examples of the constructive cooperation. (Please refer to the attached Annex 1 for more information on the cooperation)
"The police are one of the many pillars that support our society on the broad foundation of democracy. The citizens' sense of security has a strong influence on the statics. As a guarantor of internal security, the police therefore have a special responsibility. But we can't do this alone, we need civil society institutions and we need them on a permanent basis. That's why we need to continue the process we started in 2022 and I'm delighted that we're signing this cooperation agreement together," said Police Commissioner Gregor Lange at the meeting in the Dietrich Keuning House.
On 4 June 2024, after almost 21 months of intensive exchange, the representatives of AFRIDO c/o Africa Positive e.V. met at the Dietrich Keuning House, the Dietrich-Keuning-Haus, forumJUGEND! e.V., the Integration Council of the City of Dortmund, Multikulturelles Forum e.V., Planerladen gGmbH, Projekt Ankommen e.V., the Council of Muslim Communities in Dortmund, Train of Hope Dortmund e.V., Unternehmen.Bilden.Vielfalt e.V., Verbund sozial-kultureller Migrantenvereine Dortmund e.V., Verein Kamerunischer Ingenieure und Informatiker e.V. and the Dortmund police, to initiate the continuation of the joint cooperation agreement (see Annex 2) and to document their willingness to continue working together.
In order to reflect the importance of the process initiated here, Dortmund Police Headquarters has set itself the fourth strategic goal of the authority, "Dialogue and the promotion of trust with a diverse society", and has implemented this area organizationally in the management staff of Dortmund Police.
"I am very pleased that all those involved have taken this step with us. Where so many people of different origins, religions, skin colors and sexual orientation live together, it can only work together. Today, we have taken an important step in the right direction, because everyone has the same right to human dignity, equal treatment, protection and security. I would like to thank everyone who has taken this step with us. We have created something innovative here that has no alternative in today's diverse society," said Gregor Lange after the signing ceremony, thanking those present.