Youth workers from Stichting Welzijnswerk (SWW) in Hoogeveen return to the center on Friday evening. They stopped this because of an unsafe atmosphere around that time at Park Dwingeland and the Hoofdstraat. The problems now seem to have been resolved.
“A group of young people showed borderline criminal behavior or they were aggressive towards each other. Our employees did not feel comfortable with that. What I understand is that the police have had contact with the group and the young people are now behaving more politely. employees are happy with it,” says director Eric Holkers of SWW Hoogeveen.
At the end of November it became clear that the youth workers would no longer enter the city center on Friday evenings. According to SWW Hoogeveen, employees were not physically or verbally attacked, but the atmosphere was described as ‘grim’ and ‘unsafe’. It was therefore decided not to work anymore around that time.
The youth workers stopped their work for about a month. Together with the municipality, enforcement and police, we looked at how the problems could be solved. The municipal council was also informed by a letter from the mayor. “After that, things happened quite quickly and the problems were addressed,” Holkers explains.