A local police officer knew how to handle a group of young people he caught when they were spraying graffiti on a flat in Valkenswaard. He let them clean the walls himself. And so there have often been ‘suitable’ penalties in recent years.
In 2019, two boys of 15 were caught who shot at Breda trains with ball pistols. Six windows died in the shooting. On top of a fine of 7500 euros, the boys had to work on the trains for 30 hours for a punishment.
Willem Vink from Sambeek was behind Veolia in 2016. Vink had done train surfing with a friend. They drove along on the roof of the train between Nijmegen and Molenhoek. The two then had to talk to the drivers who told them how life -threatening and traumatic something like that is.
In recent years it has often been hit around the turn of the year. Already in 2012 200 boys and girls between 13 and 15 years old were given an ‘alternative’ punishment for the lighting of fireworks when it was not allowed yet. For punishment, the teenagers had to clean up their own fireworks on the street after the turn of the year. And a number had to clean up junk at care homes, municipal yards and cycle companies.
And for clarity not only here are suitable penalties. In America, a couple of children who had taken books from the library had to read for a few days for a punishment.
In the Netherlands, opportunities for alternative penalties for young people are included in the criminal law, which runs through Halt. This is a work sentence, community service or combination of both. The idea is that the punished something makes up for the society he has damaged. Last year, more than 11,000 young people ended up at Halt.