I went last night to the Wiesbaden wine fest. It's a fairly big deal.....probably around 10,000 folks sipping a thousand different wines from the valley.
Of the local events to attract people.....it's one of the top three in the city.
Last night....was a bit different than previous episodes.
About two minutes into walking around....I came to notice a pair of German cops doing the foot patrol of the fest. It's typical to have a patrol there.
Three minutes later.....another foot patrol. Three minutes after the 2nd patrol.....came a 3rd patrol.
I would take a guess that four foot patrols were active at the fest. Normally, you might see one single patrol (2 officers) in the early hours, and a second patrol after 10PM.....mostly for drunk control.
Hyped up security? Yes. Probably due to the fear of terrorism.
It's a sign of how city leadership is viewing national trends and trying to ensure they've covered the essentials. A cost item for the budget? Well....yeah. If you consider there are around six of these fests per year in Wiesbaden, and each will require more cops on patrol....someone is having to pay for this.
2 comments:
A sad state the world has come to to 'require' this yet let me offer this argument... Will increased numbers of officers REALLY stop anything? I bomb wired up to a cell phone and left in a planter like what recently happened in Thailand can be planted VERY quickly and go un-noticed until it is too late.
Thoughts?
I think there are only two ways of believing in this to be effective. One, if something did happen....eight cops in a four block area would take down some nut in a fairly quick way. At least better than two cops. Course, if I were standing there and only two cops there....and they both go down....I'll pick up the pistol and finish off the nut myself and just disappear into the crowd.
The second observation is that the eight guys are just there for show and tell. It makes you think you are safer. It's like the German trains now....they have these idiots in jumpsuits and TSA-like badges on them, pistol and such....walking through trains between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. It makes people feel safer but it's just fake. Like you when you go to Frankfurt's airport, and Sarge "Schmidt" is walking patrol with a sub-machinegun....it makes me feel safer but if he's just got eight rounds in the machinegun....well....it don't matter much after the last round goes.
I hate to say it....but so much of life's little security things....are fake. Car safety, air travel safety, bike safety, etc. It only takes one Coca Cola truck to wipe out a Toyota and finish you off. Sorry if my cynicism is maxing today.
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