The nuisance and problems associated with drug deals are increasing in IJmuiden and Velsen-Noord. Many residents see it happening just a stone’s throw away and at the same time notice that too little is being done to combat the trade in hard drugs in the residential areas. Alex van de Molen of the neighborhood platform talks about the problems.
Alex walks through IJmuiden and tells what he and other residents see happening a stone’s throw from a primary school. “That’s where it happens, isn’t it. In the Zee and Duinwijk. There is dealing, the drugs are sold. Expensive cars arrive and it is handed over to boys on scooters. Then the deal is made.”
Alex finds it logical that other eyewitnesses do not appear in front of the NH Nieuws camera. According to him, people are afraid of the consequences if they blow out of school about the drug deals that take place.
Drug problems in IJmuiden and Velsen-Noord are growing, as are the concerns – NH Nieuws
The people living in the vicinity of these and other ‘hotspots’ where dealings are taking place are all affected by what is happening. “They are very concerned about this, especially when it comes to youth, of course. When they come into contact with drug criminals, they often get into a trap and it is difficult for them to get out.”
It is almost unreal to deal in the evenings in a parking lot where children are taken to school in the morning, Alex admits. “I don’t think it’s a good thing that it happens here, knowing that there is also a school nearby. You shouldn’t want that. As far as I’m concerned, the police are tackling it hard.”
“Involve all parties that are active with this subject in drawing up an integrated policy plan”
Alex is happy that the municipality is taking action, but he thinks things could be a little more adequate. “Including garage 2020. In itself a first step, but we believe that more energy and financial space should be made available to tackle the underlying problems, unemployment and poverty.”
Alex believes that schools, youth workers, boas and the police should work together with the municipality to make a joint stand against the drug trade. “Involve all parties that are active with this subject in drawing up an integrated policy plan.”
The municipality of Velsen says in a response to NH Nieuws: “Drug nuisance in neighborhoods is a problem that we naturally want to combat effectively. Tackling this problem is one of Mayor Dales’ spearheads. We are already working intensively on tackling drug nuisance in Zee- en Duinwijk and we are taking it a step further, also in other districts.”
In the box below, the municipality further explains how it intends to proceed.
“We want people to be able to live comfortably and safely without this nuisance. Unfortunately, it is not a simple problem, it is complex and consists of more components. It concerns problems due to use and addiction, drug trafficking and other forms of crime. That causes nuisance in the living environment and public space.One form of approach is not sufficient to successfully combat this and make neighborhoods resilient, so we opt for an integrated approach.
Important in this are:
-Prevention: with information at schools, games, support from the Brijder.
-Repression: through enforcement and criminal prosecution from the police, enforcers and the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
-Undermining: making society stronger against the interference of crime.
-Care: counteracting and reducing use and addiction.
-Young recruits: ensuring that we prevent young people from engaging in crime. Our youth boas play an important role in this. They are the eyes and ears, have good contacts with both the young people and the professional network.
-Collaboration in neighbourhoods: we use the experience of residents about drug nuisance. We discuss this with a coalition of organizations and residents, together we make neighborhoods more resilient to drug nuisance.
The municipality is not doing this alone, it is a team effort. From the municipality, including enforcers and youth boas, the police, the Public Prosecution Service, mental health institutions, housing associations, schools, youth work, parents and residents of neighborhoods where drug nuisance prevails. On April 20, we discussed this topic during a residents’ evening in Zee- en Duinwijk. We will take the learning points and the experience we gain from the collaboration in this district with us in the future. And also to Velsen-Noord, where no project is currently underway.”