Mahmoud Jaraba on police strategy to combat “clan-crime” (in German)
On May 25, the Berliner Zeitung published an article about the strategy of the police in the fight against so-called “clan crime”.
The article is based on an interview with Mahmoud Jaraba, in which he gave his view on the strategy of the Berlin law enforcement. He strongly criticizes their actions – joint operations, however following completely wrong logics. The “clan model” as such must be questioned, since complex social phenomena are forced into an explanatory pattern that does not reflect reality. Criminal activities are not organized in clans, “but in much smaller family units”. In this context, “clans” are a social unit constructed by security authorities. Due to the public perception and the undifferentiated media coverage, non-criminal family members get into a “spiral of exclusion,” which in turn increases the chances of becoming criminals after all.
Mahmoud Jaraba calls for the complexity of the phenomenon to be better grasped and, building on this, for prevention programs to be expanded and given better financial support.