CSI Frankfurt

by - Monday, October 14, 2019

If there were such a thing as a CSI Frankfurt as opposed to a CSI Los Angeles, Miami or New York, you might have just invented the most boring TV show ever. The pilot wouldn't even make it on air in the U.S. In fact, there's a good chance that CSI Frankfort, Kentucky would make for more compelling viewing. 

This is not to say that there isn't any crime here in Frankfurt. Quite the contrary. Frankfurt as a banking city is predestined for it. The Bahnhof Region, or the area around the central train station, is notorious for crime. If I were to venture a guess, Frankfurt is probably number one and always has been, with the occasional year off to let Berlin claim the title. The Frankfurt city delegation doesn't even show up at the ceremony to accept the award any more. And yet, Frankfurt is easily the safest place I have ever lived in.

Yet this is more about Germany as a whole, really. In the year 2018, 5.5 million criminal acts were committed, down from 5.7 million the year before and lowest since 1992. Two myths were also annihilated with the statistics. One, an increase in immigration would mean an increase in crime. Didn't happen. And second, that political crimes are on the rise, which is also false. The only political crimes that have increased were those committed by the left, although there is certainly a connection with the rise of the far-right party AfD in Germany somewhere.  

If we break the statistics down even further, then we see that theft, petty and robbery, make up more than a third of all crimes committed. Fraud and property damage take up another quarter of the pie chart. Another ten percent go to bodily injury. Six percent go to drugs. What I won't do here is compare this to other countries in Europe or around the world, simply because it would be like comparing apples and oranges, or even raisins. 

Germany itself just feels safe, period. I have never felt threatened once in this town, and I've been out at all hours and even around the Bahnhof whenever I needed to catch an early or late train. Guns, or the lack thereof, probably have something to do with that. But it's more than that, I feel. The average German just doesn't have that hair-trigger temper. Germans believe in civilization, first and foremost, and that matters can be settled in a non-violent way. That said, people will be people, which does not make them immune to flipping a switch and acting out, whatever form that takes. 

Look at your average thriller on TV. How often do you see anybody draw a weapon? You'll be amazed at what is aired on primetime TV here. Now ask Germans why they leave Germany. For a better life somewhere else? Doubtful, it's because sometimes, even Germans, miss that little excitement or the occasional shootout, fact or fiction. Germany as such appears too safe, too predictable to some. Even in crime capital Frankfurt. 

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