Cologne plans hugely increased New Year police presence

BERLIN (AP) - Cologne is planning a hugely increased police presence for New Year's Eve and banning firecrackers around its landmark cathedral as part of efforts to prevent a repeat of last year's string of robberies and sexual assaults, authorities said Monday.

The crimes, blamed largely on foreign men, heightened tensions in Germany over the influx of migrants in 2015. Police were criticized for their handling of the situation, and the city's then-police chief was removed.

Current police chief Juergen Mathies said more than 1,500 officers will be on duty in Cologne this New Year's Eve, compared with around 140 last time. Video surveillance is being stepped up.

On top of that, Mayor Henriette Reker said that the city's office for public order and private firms will provide some 600 security officers.

Most of last year's crimes occurred around the cathedral and nearby train station. The area around the cathedral is being fenced off as a secure zone, inside which fireworks - ubiquitous in Germany on New Year's Eve - will be banned, and a nearby bridge across the Rhine river closed to pedestrians. Authorities plan a light show at the cathedral.

Prosecutors say they received 1,222 criminal complaints following last year's events, 513 of them alleging sexual assaults or harassment. They opened proceedings against 333 people, 87 of whom were suspected of sexual offenses.

It has proven difficult to secure sufficient evidence against many of the suspects. Thirty-five people have been indicted, mostly for theft or similar offenses, of whom 24 were convicted so far and one acquitted. Other cases are pending.

Five of the indictments involved sexual offenses. Two suspects were convicted of sexual assault or being an accessory to it, and a third of making lewd comments.