According to owner of the Wereldhave shopping center, incidents with hanging youths occur at every large shopping center in a city. “These are security situations and broader metropolitan problems, which is not unique to Hoofddorp,” a spokesperson told NH when asked.
Wereldhave hopes that the letter will result in better cooperation with the municipality, police and social organizations. “As the owner of several shopping centers in the Netherlands, we know that this type of challenges can indeed be solved, provided that there is good and targeted local cooperation.”
He mentions Purmerend and Heerhugowaard as an example, where the number of incidents around Wereldhave shopping centers would have decreased through a joint approach.
Aggressive attitude towards security guards
All shopkeepers and catering operators who speak NH do see police in and around the shopping center every day. When NH goes on Thursday afternoon, two police cars are parked on the square and enforcers walk around.
Yet security guards from the shopping center think that more is needed. In the letter they describe threatening situations in which young people act aggressively when they are addressed about their behavior. These types of incidents would occur at different times in the day.
“In such cases, we must engage the police and/or enforcement for support. However, the problem here is that the police and enforcement are not always available immediately or is nearby.”
‘Not only Coa youth’
According to the security guards, it is about various groups, “but especially the group of (usually) refugees stands out because of the degree of nuisance they cause,” the letter says. The group would be regularly involved in thefts and fights. “Both mutually and with people from outside.”
A spokesperson for the COA (Central Organ for Asylum Seekers) acknowledges the problem, but emphasizes that it is not just about young people from the COA. “Also for young people from other municipalities and from Hoofddorp itself. In the short term there will be a plan of action in collaboration with the municipality in which we are closely involved.”
NH has asked the municipality of Haarlemmermeer for a response, but he does not want to say anything about the situation, because councilors of two political parties have now asked questions about it. She wants to answer those questions first and expects to be able to do that in mid -April.