Overview
- Police confirmed more than 1,000 officers will work in Cologne and neighboring Leverkusen, supported by 450 municipal enforcement staff and about 1,200 private security personnel.
- Teams will take up positions from early morning at known party hotspots, with special focus this year on the Altstadt, the Zülpicher Viertel, the Ringe and Chlodwigplatz.
- Operational measures include targeted person and bag searches and a blanket ban on knives and realistic weapon replicas at public carnival events.
- Strongly intoxicated minors will be handed over to the Jugendamt so youth welfare staff can coordinate care and contact guardians.
- Police say they do not currently expect riots like the Oct. 31 Gen‑Z clashes but have explicitly folded those incidents into planning and warn residents of street closures and access limits.