“I don’t walk down the street with fear, but I still think about it quite often.” A year after the controversial shooting in the Roosendaal district of Kalsdonk, Nurcan Akakça and Mart Reijman set out as brand new neighborhood coaches in their neighborhood. “We will not allow ourselves to be terrorized by a bunch of criminals,” Nurcan sounds combative.
From the community center, Nurcan and Mart walk through Philipslaan in their brand new orange vests. The place where a gunman pulled out his gun in broad daylight and opened fire on a 19-year-old man. Miraculously, the victim was only slightly injured during the Wild West scenes. The bizarre images of March 3, 2023 are still etched in the memories of many local residents.
“We hope that our striking presence will make people feel safe on the streets again.”
The violent incident in Kalsdonk was not an isolated incident. In recent years it has often been restless in the neighborhood. “Of course we cannot prevent such a shooting. We hope that our striking presence will make people feel safe on the street again,” Mart explains.
Immediately after the explosion of violence last year, the municipality decided to take measures. Extra camera surveillance was installed and the police increased the number of patrols. Nurcan and other residents felt that did not go far enough. They wanted to revive the project with neighborhood coaches. Kalsdonk had had good experiences with this. The residents were supported in this by the mayor.
Kartrekker Nurcan gathered a group of volunteers in a short time. But to her great frustration, her new initiative kept failing to get started. Mainly due to political wrangling over volunteer compensation. After the Kalsdonkse threatened to pull the plug on the project in desperation, the matter gained momentum.
“We are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and we speak to people about their behavior.”
The volunteer compensation has now been arranged and the district coaches have been doing their rounds since this week. Three women, two young people and seven men keep an eye on things in the afternoon and evening. The project will run for at least the next ten years. Nurcan: “I’m glad it worked out in the end. We are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and speak to people about their behavior. For example, I now see that cars slow down when they see us, so we have already achieved that.”
Next month, the 32-year-old suspected shooter of the shooting in Kalsdonk will appear in court in Breda.
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