The deployment of police around football matches often leads to a lot of discussion. The KNVB recently reported that deployment has decreased by thirty percent over the past twenty years. Last month, the VVD suggested that clubs should pay for extra police deployment. But what’s going on now? Omroep Brabant watched behind the scenes with agent Jurgen Cornelis at the top match PSV against FC Twente.
There is a tense atmosphere in the control room. During the search of Twente supporters, a banner with the text ‘All Cops Are Bastards’ was discovered. “We do not tolerate these types of texts and we want to get out of the picture as quickly as possible,” says Jurgen Cornelis, Operational Expert Football & Events at the police. It is the start of a hectic situation, with the units having their hands full.
It is already getting dark in Eindhoven when the police units are preparing for their duty. Leader PSV takes on sub-topper FC Twente. Later that evening, approximately 34,000 PSV supporters will gather, making it very busy around the Philips Stadium. 1,400 FC Twente supporters will also travel to Eindhoven on 22 buses. The forty police officers deployed are responsible for maintaining public order outside the stadium.
Safety responsibilities are divided between the Philips stadium, where PSV is in charge, and the public road, where the police maintain order. PSV finances this from its own funds. Police deployment is determined on the basis of a risk assessment. This effort is paid for by the government and in particular the Ministry of Justice and Security.
Omroep Brabant got an exclusive look behind the scenes at the safety process of the Eredivisie match PSV – FC Twente. PSV, the police, the municipality and the Public Prosecution Service opened its doors from start to finish for this purpose. We got a look at the control room, attended various meetings and accompanied an agent and steward on match day.
Previous incidents
“Can I please have your attention,” sounds from the canteen at the police station on Mathildelaan. Jurgen Cornelis is about to open the briefing for the officers. Today he is responsible for managing the units on the street. “Welcome to the briefing about the PSV – FC Twente match,” he begins, pointing to a large screen showing his PowerPoint presentation.
In the briefing, Cornelis discusses a number of matters that influence the work of the police. For example, he informs those present about the number of spectators, but he also discusses, for example, how this match went in the past. For example, previous matches and the associated incidents are cited. After the briefing, the units take to the streets.
Police officer Cornelis takes us during his shift in HOW..?
Waiting for privacy settings…
The arrival
After the briefing, Cornelis goes to the stadium together with the police units, where the PSV avenue must be cordoned off. This way, the buses carrying away supporters can easily reach the stadium. Once the buses are parked, the risk of a confrontation with home supporters is immediately much smaller: “The 22 buses already form a natural barrier between these two groups.”
It is about an hour before the match when Cornelis keeps an eye on things around the stadium. The Philips Stadium is now open, which means it is getting busier. The officer is busy with his earpiece and walkie-talkie, with which he can instruct and assist the officers. “In general, we always have things under control here,” says Cornelis. “The fanatical supporters often arrive at the stadium earlier, so we experience few chants or unpleasant situations on the street.”
Drunken people
Despite the smooth progress, Cornelis has to intervene just before the match. Two people are trapped by two police officers on bicycles. “They were drunk and were thrown out of the stadium,” says Cornelis, after the drunks were sent away. That goes smoothly, but is not completely without consequences, we hear. “That could take a while,” he laughs. “They refused to leave. We have noted down their details, so that the names are known, both to us and to PSV.”
Hectic situation
Anyone who thinks that officers are only outside the stadium is wrong. They are also in the control room, a room where the entire stadium is monitored with razor-sharp cameras by the police, municipality and security staff from PSV and the visiting team. It is also the place where the security operation is controlled by means of walkie-talkie traffic. The match has now started and there is a tense atmosphere. “Has the man with the ‘All Cops Are Bastards’ banner been arrested yet?” asks Cornelis, who is now also in the control room.
This will be looked back on in detail during the half-time meeting, in which the police, PSV, the opponent and the municipality of Eindhoven discuss the details of each home match at half-time. “Things went a little less smoothly due to this incident,” says Dominique Aichorn, Crowd Services Coordinator at PSV. “It was unclear where exactly that person was, he kept moving from top to bottom. This lasted so long that we closed the tunnel to and from the away section.”
It resulted in a hectic situation. “Because that person was still missing and we had closed the tunnel, no one could enter,” Aichorn continues. To make matters worse, a group also remained standing. “They apparently belonged to the man with the banner. They wanted to know where their friend was and what was going to happen to him.”
Ultimately, the stewards, working with the police, managed to arrest the man. “That was a big relief. We then managed to get all FC Twente supporters into the box within ten minutes. Fortunately, peace has now returned.”
The group of boys disagrees with the stewards. They want to know what their friend remains and demand clarification. Aichorn remains calm: “They would like to go home. They are now waiting in the tunnel of the away section until a decision is made about their friend. Only then are they allowed to leave the stadium.”
The incident may have been resolved, but it is not yet calm in the control room. The police, PSV, FC Twente and the municipality of Eindhoven will also continue to coordinate the outflow in the second half. “I want to keep an eye on the stairs from the away section to the outside,” says Aichorn, while someone shows these camera images. Ultimately, the units manage to properly escort the spectators out of the stadium.
“These types of arrests always cause some extra difficulties,” says Aichorn. “It requires a lot of coordination between us as PSV and the police to keep this incident small and to ensure that it does not get further out of hand. We were particularly busy with that.”
Separate outflow
Towards the end of the match, agent Cornelis moves towards the PSVlaan, where the outflow of the FC Twente fans will soon take place. “We will soon start a stop procedure,” Cornelis says to the riot police commander. “The length of this depends on the outflow of PSV. We don’t want them to end up in the same waters. The moment the outflow from the away section starts, we set up a line so that both supporters cannot come close to each other.”
When all the supporters leave the stadium, Cornelis reflects on the course of the evening. “I thought it was a messy match,” he says. “This is mainly due to the incident in the away section. Furthermore, there have been few incidents in and around the stadium. But yes, it kept us busy for the entire match. We will look back and reflect on this in our consultation on Monday.”