The number of explosions in Amsterdam has increased significantly. Figures show that 197 explosions took place last year. A significant part of these are said to be the result of conflicts in organized drug crime. The Amsterdam triangle – mayor, police and public prosecutor – announced this today. Executors are mainly young offenders from vulnerable neighborhoods, who are often recruited via social media. The youngest suspect in an explosion case is only twelve years old.
“The problems resulting from organized drug crime are settling deeper into the city and are one of the biggest concerns for the triangle,” Halsema writes in a letter to the city council. The reason is the triangle’s annual press interview this afternoon in the Stopera.
‘Life-threatening situations’
According to the triangle, organized crime affects daily life and the economy of Amsterdam. At the beginning of this year, Mayor Halsema wrote in an column in the English newspaper The Guardian that ‘their money increasingly pollutes the legal economy, especially in the real estate sector, business services and the catering industry’. Conflicts in the criminal circuit also cause intense violence on busy streets and in residential areas. For example, last year an explosive device went off almost two hundred times in the city.
The suspects who place the explosives in front of the doors of homes and businesses are mainly young perpetrators from vulnerable neighborhoods, the triangle states. In many cases it concerns impressionable boys who are willing to plant an explosive for a few hundred euros.
The order often comes through an intermediary or via social media, such as Snapchat or Telegram. “Executives do not seem to experience any barriers to detonating an explosive and thus creating a life-threatening situation,” the mayor said in the letter.
Text continues below the photo.
In the period 2022-2023, the Public Prosecution Service has prosecuted more than forty people for setting up and setting off explosions. The more than forty suspects are involved in 32 explosions in the city. However, in total there were 296 explosions in the past two years.
Seventeen of the suspects are still minors and the youngest is only 12 years old. So far, these cases have only resulted in convictions ten times, the highest sentence imposed being six years.
The triangle points out that tackling organized crime requires ‘continuous attention’. “The criminal justice approach to the most violent and undermining criminal clusters is and remains essential.” In addition, the municipality is looking at possibilities to improve education, safety, work, housing and quality of life in vulnerable neighborhoods in Amsterdam-Zuidoost and Nieuw-West. This is done, for example, with Neighborhood Action Teams and District justice.
Number of stabbing incidents increased
Despite the doubling of the number of explosions, the number of shooting incidents in the city has fallen sharply. According to the triangle, there appears to have been a shift from shooting incidents to causing an explosion with the aim of intimidating the target. A worrying increase that the triangle is seeing is the number of stabbing incidents: the number increased from 95 incidents in 2022 to 143 last year. An increase of 51 percent.
Three deaths due to confused people
The triangle notes that the problems in mental health care (GGZ) also led to more incidents involving confused people last year. This was reflected in the number of reports of domestic violence, sexual violence and exploitation of vulnerable people. In addition, three people died in 2023 involving a confused person.
Text continues below the photo.
In March the 47 year old Karin shot dead in the Staatsliedenbuurt by her neighbor, where, according to bystanders, one of her children was also present. The 57-year-old man was killed shortly afterwards found lifeless in a parking garage on De Wittenkade.
In early August, a 36-year-old man stabbed two of his neighbors down in a house on Robert Scottstraat in West. A 25-year-old man did not survive the stabbing, and a 29-year-old man was seriously injured. At the end of October, Mustapha Zouini turned 36 stabbed to death by his 63-year-old neighbor in Hazelaarstraat, after probably a arguing about a debit card.
Triangle concerns
The nuisance caused by people with psychological problems in the city has also increased. The triangle writes that professionals in almost all districts indicate that the issue surrounding people with psychological problems is becoming more serious and complex. This is due to, among other things, the increase in the number of homeless peoplebut also because there are bottlenecks in the guidance of vulnerable people and waiting lists at mental health institutions.
Text continues below the video.
According to the triangle, the consequences of the problems in healthcare are increasingly manifesting as safety problems and therefore put extra pressure on the limited capacities of the police and enforcement. The municipality is trying to support vulnerable groups with various measures, but has stated that it cannot manage on its own. That’s why there is requested support to the government to accommodate more homeless people in the city.
In addition, the municipality is in discussions with mental health partners to improve care. For example, in the past year preparations have been made for collaboration between the police, the Municipal Health Service, the ambulance service and the Mental Health Service to help people who have not necessarily committed anything criminal or need acute care, but who should not disappear from view due to confused behavior. to help anyway. A pilot for the collaboration will start in June this year.
Also read
Amsterdam
💬 Don’t want to miss anything from Amsterdam?
Seen a typo? Let us know via [email protected]