Anyone who shoots buildings, detonates something near houses or deposits explosives, has a good chance of getting away with it. In the past 2.5 years, a suspect was arrested in 21 percent of these violent intimidations and threats. This is apparent from an inventory by Omroep Brabant.
Omroep Brabant mapped out how often shelling, explosions and explosives occur at buildings and cars. Between January 1, 2020 and August 1, 2022, this happened at least 95 times in our province. As far as is known, the police arrested one or more suspects in 20 of these cases. People have been convicted in 8 cases. This is apparent from searches in police, justice and media reports.
The percentage of arrests is ‘quite low’, according to Katharina Krüsselmann. She is working on a PhD at the University of Leiden, which is about shooting incidents in the Netherlands. She previously investigated the phenomenon of placing hand grenades on buildings with Marieke Liem, professor of social resilience and safety.
Back of their tongue
“It is difficult for the police and the judiciary to get a finger on who is doing this,” says Krüsselmann. “That is not unwillingness, but these investigations are complicated and cost a lot of effort and time.” According to the researcher, the majority of these violent cases have to do with conflicts in the criminal environment. “Often they are related to drug trafficking or smuggling. For example, it is about a batch of coke that has been lost and who has to pay for it.”
According to the police and the judiciary, the biggest stumbling point in investigations is the lack of cooperation from victims. They often do not show the back of their tongue, Krüsselmann also knows. “The victim sometimes wants nothing to do with the police, especially if they are in the criminal circuit themselves, because then they also have to tell about criminal matters in which they themselves are involved.” Chief of police Ron van Brussel of the Zeeland-West-Brabant police agrees: “It will be a lot more difficult for us then.”
According to researcher Krüsselmann, the aim of the shelling and explosions is not to kill or injure the target. Statistics in Brabant show that someone was injured in 3 of the 95 incidents. For example, on Christmas Eve in 2021, a child was injured by flying glass after someone exploded fireworks at a window of a house in Roosendaal. No one died in any of the 95 incidents.
“This is purely intended to intimidate, extort or threaten others,” concludes Krüsselmann. “The perpetrators want to send a message with this: you have a problem and we know where to find you or your family. Then they force someone to pay, for example.”
All suspects are men
The data collected by Omroep Brabant shows that all suspects who have been arrested in the past 2.5 years are men. Almost everyone is between the ages of 18 and 33. The incidents mainly happen in larger cities. Den Bosch leads the list with 13 pieces. Recently, there were two explosions at houses in the Maaspoort district.
One of these is probably a mistaken attack on a house where a family was sleeping. The other was aimed at the house of the girlfriend of the famous criminal Klaas Otto. A 20-year-old man from Rotterdam was recently arrested for this. After Den Bosch, Oss (11 incidents), Tilburg (10) and Breda (9).
Despite the low arrest rate of 21 percent in these cases, the police and the judiciary say they give it a high priority. “This often takes place in the middle of residential areas and that can have major consequences. You will only live in such a building and not wake up in time if an explosion causes a fire. Even if you live next door, the impact is huge,” says press officer Janine Kramer of the Public Prosecution Service in East Brabant.
8 convictions
In 8 of the 95 cases there was a conviction in the past 2.5 years. These were mainly quarrels in the relational sphere that got out of hand. Violent intimidation and extortion in the criminal environment prove more difficult to solve.
accountability
Omroep Brabant made an inventory of how often explosives and heavy fireworks were left at buildings, they went off and how often houses were shot at. The police could not give exact information about this, because cases are registered differently. Omroep Brabant arrived at these figures on the basis of police press releases, media articles, verdicts and inquiries with the Public Prosecution Service.
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