Obchodná Street in Bratislava (source: SME)
Bratislava city council plans to establish a workplace for the municipal police on Obchodná Street to make this part of the city more attractive and safe. This was the street on which the brutal attack on Filipino Henry Acorda, who later succumbed to his injuries, took place last May.
“We can now confirm that one of the measures will be the launch of ‘an open workplace’ for the municipal police on Obchodná Street,” said Peter Bubla, city council spokesperson, as cited by the TASR newswire, adding that they are still working on its preparation.
Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo, who was elected to his post in November 2018, wrote on his blog last year, that this workplace should be visible directly from the street via a shop window, open 24 hours and maximally accessible to the public.
“Such a police point will strengthen the feeling of supervision in potential culprits but also in case of problems the police will be extremely accessible,” said Vallo. “It will be possible to run for a police officer or if there are problems it would be possible to hide there.”
People living on Obchodná Street have been complaining about bad security for a long time. It was here that, on May 26, 2018, Juraj Hossu attacked Henry Acorda, a Filipino citizen living in Bratislava who was trying to stop him harassing two women. Acorda succumbed to his injuries.
This crime has confirmed that the situation on this street needs to be addressed. The city is now planning a package of measures that will include coordinated cooperation between the operators of local pubs and restaurants and their security services as well as cooperation with the local civic association, the municipal and state police and people living on this street.
“We will also focus on the general condition of this street because the appearance of public spaces has a fundamental influence over the behaviour of visitors,” said Bubla. “We will introduce the measures in a short period of time - after we process the available data. For the time being we are in the initial phase of an analysis of the current situation.”
