1/2 Image: Broadcasting Brabant.
Juvenile crime has barely increased in Brabant over the past five years. The number of robberies and threats has even decreased slightly. But the violent crimes committed by young people are becoming increasingly serious. That says Jeroen Huijsmans of the juvenile probation service in West Brabant. “Knives are often drawn now.”
Jeroen Huijsmans has been working for 35 years at Youth Probation within Youth Protection Brabant. He notices that the types of offenses in which young people are involved are changing. “When I started, there were mainly young people who committed home burglaries or car thefts. You hardly see that anymore. Now it is more young people who commit criminal offenses online. And violence is also a concern.”
Because that violence has not become more, but it has become more serious. Huijsmans explains: “We see that young people more often commit criminal offenses with a knife. And that often has serious consequences. In the past, a fight between young people often involved hitting and kicking, but now it is often with a knife. And then the consequences may be more fatal.”
“I’m a big proponent of a ban on knives.”
Huijsmans advocates a total ban on knives. “I am very much in favor of that. And then we also have to enforce it and check at schools whether there are knives in bags or coats. That is the way we can do something about it and that it is clear to everyone what the rules are .”
If young people have a knife in their pocket, it can have a snowball effect. “Other young people feel anxious because of this. They can then decide to carry a knife with them. If a fight arises, things often go wrong.”
“Most young people who have been detained for a while are shocked by that.”
According to Huijsmans, parents should be much more alert to their child’s online behavior. Because that’s where quarrels often start. “Then things are called to each other that you would not normally say to someone’s face. They dare to do that online. And such an argument explodes as soon as they meet. In addition, drug trafficking often starts online.”
According to Huijsmans, if young people have gone wrong, they should get back on the right path as soon as possible after serving their sentence. “Most young people who are arrested and detained for a while are shocked by this. It is our job to see what is going on very quickly. We often advocate that the young people are released as soon as possible because we want to they get to work. They are children and you have to continue to educate them.”
