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Cooperation
Solving
Bremen s
Traffic
Problems
The vexing problems arising from overlapping of
duties of American, British and German law enforcement
officers in the vicinity of the port city of Bremen, are
being solved in a cooperative manner.
When the jurisdictional headache became serious last
summer, John W. Jergensen, chief of the Public Safety
Division, OLC Bremen, stepped in to get all factions to
agree to a Bremen state public safety conference. While
there have been similar meetings in other parts of the
US Zone, this was the first meeting of its kind in Bremen
and proved so successful that get-togethers were sched-
uled once a month.
Participating in the conferences have been representa-
tives of the Bremen minister of interior, chiefs of the
various German police and security offices of Bremen,
Bremerhaven and some neighboring cities in the British
Zone, British public safety officers of Oldenburg and
Lueneburg, officers of the US Army and OLC Bremen
police and security units.
With the motto "Cooperation is the key to good law
enforcement," last summer's initial meeting in the
HICOG building got off to a flying start and the round-
table discussions are now an established function. At-
tendance so far has ranged between 30 and 35 each time
and the concentrated method of hitting at problems has
worked splendidly.
James L. McCraw, who at the time was chief of
HICOG's Public Safety Division, Office of Political Af-
fairs, was a guest at the September meeting. Expressing
keen gratification at the large press representation at
that session, Mr. McCraw said: "Police work cannot be
successful without public support and public support can
only be gained through the press. The press has the same
obligation to the public as the police."
At one conference a German police officer asked about
the American way of writing traffic tickets in Germany.
Between 85 and 90 percent of the Germans given tickets
by the Americans were acquitted in court, he said,
because the violation slips were not made out according
John W. Jergensen (left), chief of OLC Bremen's Pub]
Safety Division, discusses a traffic problem with a Brith
Zone police officer at one of the monthly con ferenci
Mr. Jergensen organized. Representatives Iof the US Arni
and German police officials of both the state and city
Bremen as well as a growing number of other cities ah
attend regularly.           (Photo by Georg Schmid, Breme
to German methods. Discussion resulted in a revision 1
the American method and, incidentally, better traff:
law enforcement.
Mr. Jergensen, serving as chairman of the group, e,
plained that in the safety conference traffic problerr
are being given priority consideration. The two po
cities. bear the brunt of heavy vehicular traffic movir.
from the port of embarkation into the zones. The prol
lern is further complicated by 200,000 bicycles.
Through the conferences, the officers are learning
each others work, their sources for informational hel
and how enforcement can be brought about more e
fectively.
Radio Bremen Stages "France Week"
During January Radio Bremen is broadcasting "Francol
Week" as the fifth in a series of international weeks de,41
voted to a single European country.
The series was inaugurated by the station more thanR
a year ago in an effort to make a practical and concrete,
contribution toward a united Europe through promotion'
of better understanding among European peoples. Dutch',
Swiss, British and Belgian "weeks", have already been,
presented.
Each of these 'weeks' opened with a talk by a promi-r_
nent political figure and included from 32 to 45 special
programs covering all aspects of cultural and social life
- musical, historical and political, as well as economic
features, entertainment and specialities of interest to
children, young people and women. In most cases, Radio
Bremen staff members were invited by the foreign broad-
casting institutions to assemble recorded programs, to
conduct interviews and to prepare reports. Plans are under-
way for additional programs on other European countries.
INFORMATION BULLETIN
-JANUARY 1952
30