All people, young and old, should feel comfortable in the public space and be able to spend their time in pleasant togetherness.
Better sense of security
Stuttgart is still one of the safest cities in Germany, but the feeling of safety is still very much compromised. A security partnership between the police and the city administration has been in place in the state capital of Stuttgart since 1997. The safety partnership was supplemented in 2020 with the “Experience Stuttgart safely” catalog of measures. The aim is to improve people’s sense of security, especially in the evening and at weekends, through a bundle of measures. All people, whether young or old, should feel comfortable in public spaces and be able to spend their time together in a pleasant atmosphere.
Safe Stuttgart
Stuttgart is still one of the safest cities in Germany, but the feeling of safety is still very much compromised. A security partnership between the police and the city administration has been in place in the state capital of Stuttgart since 1997. The safety partnership was supplemented in 2020 with the “Experience Stuttgart safely” catalog of measures. The aim is to improve people’s sense of security, especially in the evening and at weekends, through a bundle of measures. All people, whether young or old, should feel comfortable in public spaces and be able to spend their time together in a pleasant atmosphere.
1. focal point-oriented presence patrols, control measures and focal point actions
The police in Stuttgart ensure a high number of forces for the “Stuttgart Security Concept” (SKS) on a situation-oriented basis. Depending on the situation, forces from the police headquarters are deployed in a targeted manner. In doing so, it works closely with other partners - in particular the federal police - and examines the possibility of joint operations and forms of cooperation such as manhunt days at a low level.
2. focus actions in public space
In order to additionally strengthen the subjective feeling of security of the population, all available forces in the inner-city area are bundled during search days. In this way, drug-related crime, as well as violations of commercial and youth protection regulations, can be specifically monitored and sanctioned. The controls are accompanied by civilian forces. These focal actions also include arrival and departure routes at relevant times on weekends.
3. establishment of a specific investigation unit
The processing of violent crimes and crimes against public order in the city center on weekends is handled by a specific investigation unit. This is based on the assumption that people repeatedly visit Stuttgart’s city center in a targeted manner and commit crimes here. The specific investigation unit is to identify these intensive offenders and process the preliminary proceedings centrally.
4. consistent action against intensive offenders
The state-wide concept for recognizing and processing multiple and intensive offenders in Baden-Württemberg (MIT-BW) for suspects aged 18 and over should be applied consistently. This enables growing criminal careers to be recognized at an early stage and timely intervention to take place. Relevant offenses such as resisting or assaulting law enforcement officers, breach of the peace and particularly serious cases of breach of the peace are also taken into focus.
Measures against multiple offenders and prolific offenders from abroad are coordinated by two special task forces. The “Special Unit for Dangerous Foreigners” is based at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior and the “Regional Special Unit for Dangerous Foreigners” at the Stuttgart Regional Council. They act within the framework of the federal law on foreigners. If necessary, they initiate and coordinate all necessary measures, for example to create the conditions for terminating the right of residence of a multiple or intensive offender.
In the case of juvenile and adolescent offenders, close and institutionalized cooperation between those agencies that deal with juvenile delinquency is very important. These are primarily public prosecutors, youth welfare offices, schools and the police. Within the framework of the “Juvenile Offenders in Intensive Training (JUGIT)” concept, they take measures that are primarily based on the guiding principle of education. Crime prevention is of particular importance here.
5. two houses of juvenile justice (Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart-Mitte)
The first House of Juvenile Justice in Germany was opened in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt in 1999. Since 2025, there has been a second House of Juvenile Justice in Stuttgart-Mitte. The Houses of Juvenile Justice enable close and thus coordinated cooperation between the institutions involved - youth welfare, police and public prosecutor’s office. When dealing with young people, the resulting tailored responses to their behavior are the most important building block.
6th House of Prevention
A suitable property for this measure is currently (February 2025) being examined by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart.
The House of Prevention is intended to serve as a contact point for all citizens (young and old) with a focus on crime prevention. People with different areas of expertise are to work together in an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental manner. The following should sit under this umbrella: Security Partnership Staff Unit in the Municipal Crime Prevention Department of the Security, Order and Sport Division (SOS-KKP), Förderverein Sicheres und Sauberes Stuttgart e.V. and the Prevention Department of Stuttgart Police Headquarters. The aim is to promote and consolidate interdisciplinary, cross-departmental cooperation with Stuttgart’s prevention players and prevention officers from other cities by pooling their efforts.
7. temporary video surveillance and lighting concept
Since 2023, there have been 8 video surveillance locations in Stuttgart city center. Two of these are located in the “Oberer Schlossgarten”, four in the areas of “Schlossplatz, Planie, Königstraße” and two on “Kleiner Schlossplatz”. One of the aims of the cameras is to improve the sense of security in Stuttgart’s city center. Crimes can be detected and prevented before they occur and emergency services can be deployed in a more targeted manner. Should crimes nevertheless occur, the video recordings will help to solve them. The images from the video surveillance are transmitted to the command and situation center of the Stuttgart police headquarters. Specially trained police officers evaluate the images in real time. The video recordings are deleted after 72 hours, unless police-relevant recordings are used as evidence in individual cases. Private or non-public areas in the recordings are permanently and irrevocably obscured by so-called private zone masking.
Video surveillance is always in operation between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, from Saturday to Sunday and before public holidays. Numerous signs inform passers-by of the presence and background to the video surveillance.
A lighting concept has already been implemented in the Oberer Schlossgarten and Eckensee area. It increases security on site and helps to eliminate potential dark zones.
8. public safety conferences
Public safety conferences provide a format for open dialog. In particular, they help to strengthen the sense of security, make measures taken by the police and the city transparent, and address citizens’ questions.
9. alcohol consumption and residence bans
An alcohol consumption ban can be used to take action against alcohol-related disruptions to public safety and order in the event of permanent lingering/storage and sustained alcohol consumption (see Police Act §18 “Authorization to issue local alcohol consumption bans”).
The city, state and police first implemented such a ban for various squares and areas for a limited period in 2021 as part of the coronavirus pandemic.
The usage regulations of the Ministry of Finance of the State of Baden-Württemberg apply to the city’s state areas (see ”§3 Regulations for green spaces” under paragraph (2), 4, storage or permanent lingering for the sustained consumption of alcohol, among other things, is prohibited).
10. targeted deployment of the municipal enforcement service.
In addition to criminal offenses, disorderly conduct regularly affects citizens’ sense of security. For this reason, Stuttgart deploys the Municipal Enforcement Service at recognized focal points in the inner city to detect disorderly conduct at an early stage by means of low-threshold checks.
11. gun ban zone in the city center
On January 31, 2025, the existing weapons ban zone in Stuttgart city center was extended. In addition to the existing bans in the Weapons Act, all weapons and knives are prohibited in this area without any restriction on blade length.
Objectively, Stuttgart is a safe city, but the subjective feeling of safety often does not match the purely statistical data. Many different factors influence the perceived safety. For this reason, the state capital Stuttgart conducts safety surveys. In 2023, a total of 50,000 Stuttgart residents took part in the survey. The survey was carried out by Criminological Research Baden-Württemberg and the University of Heidelberg and is repeated every four years.
The Municipal Crime Prevention Department conducts exploratory walks in all 23 city districts.
As part of these walks, experts - the residents themselves - explore their district and assess both the security situation and their personal sense of security. Crime prevention specialists accompany these inspections and document the aspects addressed. The aim of this initiative is to improve the security situation and the feeling of security in the social environment based on the observations of the residents.
Clean Stuttgart
With the “Clean Stuttgart” concept (opens in a new tab), the state capital has already done a lot in recent years to improve waste avoidance and disposal in public spaces. In addition, more toilets and more litter garbage cans are to be installed in other places and facilities that have proven to be the main points of public use, and cleaning is to be stepped up where necessary.
Download information
Here you will find further information on individual concepts and measures:
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