Prague 14 Brings Crime Prevention Assistants Back to Its Streets

The Prague 14 city district will soon hire so-called crime prevention assistants (AKP) tasked with keeping order in the district's most troubled spots. According to the municipality, these include the area around the Černý Most metro station, the courtyards of residential blocks on Mansfeldova, Kučerova, Bobkova, Maňákova and Brixova streets, as well as the square in Hloubětín.

The project has already secured a grant from the Ministry of the Interior, which will cover roughly half the costs, with the district funding the rest. "As soon as the concept was approved, we immediately used it as the basis for our grant application. Getting it is a real achievement — we've managed to turn a long-term vision of a safer Prague 14 into a concrete measure that residents will genuinely feel very soon," said Deputy Mayor for Security Tomanková.

Crime prevention assistants are not a law enforcement body and do not replace the police. Their role is to maintain a constant presence in public spaces, stay familiar with local conditions, and respond early to situations before they escalate into serious problems. They will be deployed exactly in the locations residents have long complained about, engaging with people, helping prevent conflicts, and working closely with both the state and municipal police.

"Our goal isn't just to react to problem situations but above all to prevent them. We want to strengthen residents' sense of safety and create a natural link between the community, local government and law enforcement," Tomanková emphasized.

The municipality is now working through the administrative and organizational steps needed to get the assistants on the job as soon as possible. The positions haven't been filled yet — applications are being accepted until Thursday, July 30.

Prague 14 was the first Prague district to introduce the AKP system, back in 2012, when assistants worked alongside the municipal police to maintain order in parts of the Černý Most housing estate — though the program only lasted a few years. Now the practice is making a comeback.

Similar services are already running in neighboring districts: in Prague 9 since 2024, and in Prague 3 since last year. Adam Vážanský, Deputy Mayor of Prague 9 for Security, explained that the decision to bring in assistants followed surveys, safety maps and resident complaints showing that people in certain parts of the district didn't feel safe, while police couldn't be everywhere at once.

In Prague 2, a new prevention and assistance team has been monitoring the district's public spaces since April of this year. The district itself commissioned and is paying for the service, with total costs for this year estimated at around 1.9 million crowns. As Michal Zuna, Prague 2's Deputy Mayor for Security, noted earlier, being a central district of the capital, Prague 2 places particular emphasis on order in public spaces, and the new service is helping strengthen both the actual situation and residents' and visitors' subjective sense of safety.

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Source: prazskypatriot.cz