The return of the SUS team must quell the violent outbursts of partygoers in Meppel and the municipality must pay for it. That is what catering entrepreneur Jaap de Boer of Herberg ‘t Plein in Meppel says. He will soon sit down with the municipality and the police to discuss this.
The SUS team is not an unknown phenomenon. Such a team is deployed in several cities during evenings out. A group of catering entrepreneurs then hires private security guards who address annoying partygoers about their behavior in order to prevent escalation. It used to work well in Meppel. “Due to police understaffing, violence increased and this group was able to keep a close eye on troublemakers. It had a clear effect on nightlife violence,” says De Boer.
“We started it last year. At the time, fifteen entrepreneurs contributed to it, but only four of them were left as of July 1. The costs were therefore too high,” explains the catering entrepreneur. In the meantime, the SUS team has not been deployed in the Drenthe city for a while and the violence flares up again.
Last weekend a man and a woman were injured, a doorman was assaulted on Thursday and several people were injured the weekend before. De Boer has compared the situation in Meppel with other cities and has made a PowerPoint presentation that he will soon share with the municipality, the police and fellow catering entrepreneurs.
A spokesperson for the municipality of Meppel says that the municipality wants to ensure that going out in Meppel is safe and pleasant: “Where possible, we take administrative measures to contribute to this. Violence is not tolerated and we will act against it. We are curious about the presentation and are happy to talk to the catering industry.”