Modena, 18 June 2024 – “We are scared. Now we need more controls”. This is the cry of residents and traders, who do not hide their concerns regarding safety. In the aftermath of the theft from the “Caroceli” jewelery shop in Via Emilia Centro 99, the warning light in the city has come back on again: many, many Modena residents are increasingly worried and complaining, especially in the historic centre, of a “lack of security”.
This is confirmed by the voices of shopkeepers, who raise a cry of alarm and continue to keep the spotlight on these “thorny problems” which represent a great critical issue for those who, on the streets, no longer feel safe.
A situation that also worries Federico Blondi, owner of the historic “Blondi” jewelery shop, a few steps from “Caroceli”: “Our perception, shared by many traders in the historic centre, is that of a dangerous, unsafe city in which those He owns a shop like ours and lives in constant anxiety about being subjected to thefts and robberies.
We ask the mayor that concrete measures be put in place, because we have protected ourselves by independently hiring a security guard to come and monitor the area during closing hours, but we ask ourselves why we have to pay for the service and it is not instead the city to ensure protection.”
“Yesterday’s robbery, when analyzed, was a premeditated episode carried out by professionals – stated the owner of the historic Bar Molinari Mattia Gualdi –. Unpleasant episodes often happen in the center: you don’t know how many times from the bar I hear traders shouting as they run after to thieves who enter their shop, steal something and run away. I am confident in Mezzetti’s work, because in my opinion the establishment of the safety department is a measure that will bring enormous benefits”. “I live in the center and in 2024 alone I have already changed 4 bikes. – reports Enzo Zaccarelli, a trader in via Taglio –. I had to buy a garage where I now leave my bikes, because I’m tired of leaving work in the evening and continually having them stolen. the means by which I go home would require more controls because we traders feel left alone.”
The person who has lived in the center for many years is Stefania Verzoni, who does not hide her fears about going around alone in the evening: “In recent years I have not hidden a certain fear of going out alone: there are often various groups of young people all together who they cause me a lot of concern when I approach them; living in the center I very frequently hear shouting and people arguing from the window, and frankly this accentuates my fears. I have now learned to avoid them.”
But it didn’t end here. “For me, the only effective solution to make the center safe again is to increase controls and police presence – suggests Fabrizio Boccolari, also a resident of the historic center – The patrols are few, in the evening even fewer, and it is full of youth gangs that create problems for us residents. It seems obvious to me that given the massive presence of forces guarding the city, these criminal episodes would be stopped in their tracks.”
