‘The chance that someone throws Cobras does something to you’

Police attacked by a group of young people in East Amsterdam during New Year’s Eve. The Mobile Unit that had to rescue the emergency services several times in Rotterdam. An emergency order in Hedel in Gelderland due to the unrest. Or the fire brigade in Assen being pelted with fireworks when extinguishing a fire.

This year too, the emergency services had to deal with more than 3,500 incidents at the turn of the year, according to reports from the safety regions. And in those incidents, they themselves were not always safe, or were even targeted: 187 officers were so seriously injured that they reported it, police chief Frank Paauw said this week in the Algemeen Dagblad. Previously, the average was 161, the newspaper wrote.

At the same time, New Year’s Eve will also be safer, says Marnix Eysink Smeets, lecturer in public trust in safety at Inholland University of Applied Sciences. The number of incidents has been declining for years. The fact that the numbers of violence against police are rising is partly because they are registering more, he said NRC. And challenging the authorities? That always happens on New Year’s Eve.

But, Eysink Smeets also understands, just the chance of having a heavy firework like the Cobra hit your head does something to you as a first responder. What then? A firefighter and a police officer explain what it’s like to be pelted.

Commander Barracks Bosland Kralingen, RotterdamLex de Wit (56)

“Our 24-hour shift started off pleasantly. We had breakfast together in the morning, discussed the day, did the household chores. At the beginning of the evening we moved by car to Marconiplein in Rotterdam-West, a neighborhood where things could sometimes go wrong, it was estimated. At dusk, around 4:30 or 5 p.m., the reports started. Especially fires in waste containers.”

“We were lucky and were able to take our vehicle to the Erasmus Bridge to watch the national fireworks together. There we stood: ambulances, police cars and fire trucks in a row, among the people of Rotterdam, wishing each other the best.”

“Shortly after midnight the police suddenly drive away with bells and whistles. Ten minutes later it started for us too. From one fire to another. Containers. Shared scooters. Share bikes. Car fires. It happened faster and faster.”

“After one o’clock we received a report of a car fire near Marconiplein. The street was full of fireworks residue. We drove around and over it at walking pace. It was a narrow street with cars on either side. People were walking. That car? We didn’t see it anywhere. There was a group of young people on the corner of the street.”

“Out of nowhere the first stone flew into the windshield. The window turns into a spider’s web of cracks, and there was cheering outside. Then we saw the throwing at us started. Out of here was my reflex as commander.

“We escaped with a broken windshield and scratches and dents in our car. We don’t know for sure, but we think the report of the car fire was made to lure and attack us. We didn’t find that burning car anywhere, even later. It felt like they wanted to show that they were in charge. That makes it personal. While: we want to help people!

“Now, in the days after New Year’s Eve, everyone is paying attention to violence against aid workers. Media call us with requests for testimonials. Politicians say: ‘Yes, yes, very bad. We have to do something.’ But at the end of January it faded away, after which everything remains as it was, in my experience. That’s bad.”

District police officer Delft-CentreCornelis Villerius (33)

“The atmosphere was good when my colleague and I started our shift at 6 p.m.: fire barrel on the left, party tent on the right. Also in the Delft neighborhoods where it was restless during previous New Year’s Eve. Except for two places: first on Papsouwselaan, in the Voorhof district. About twenty young people set off explosives made from illegal fireworks in quick succession. Huge blows were followed by meter-high flames. We stepped on the group, which scattered.

“A fifteen minute walk away, at Lidl, the same group continued. We received a report that the doors of the supermarket had been blown away and we had to go there to prevent looting. A hundred meters away, at an apartment, the young people were standing under a roof. They blew off the side mirrors of cars with fireworks.

“And then: BAM! A huge bang right next to the technician who repaired the door. We felt hard pressure against our legs. After three minutes another Cobra followed. And a third. But wait a minute, we thought. They consciously want to harm us, we have to pay attention now. It made me angry, how they treated our health.

“At the flat further away, the emotion also changed. There were cheers and shouts. A number of young people walked towards us. Bright lights on cell phones flashed on, pointing cameras at us. Another huge flash, and fourteen hard blows followed. We called for reinforcements.

“We decided to act in a line with several colleagues, and the young people flew in all directions. Some ran into the apartment. They threw all sorts of things our way from above. Also heavy fireworks. At that moment I felt a healthy fear: we had to leave. The group continued to throw fireworks. Our rescue was a van with riot police. We wore fireworks glasses and earplugs, they were better protected and were able to chase away the young people.

“I hardly slept that night, I could have done another morning shift, I was so full of adrenaline. Even on New Year’s Day, when I visited family, the stress was still in my body. High heart rate, high muscle tension. But I’ll be there again next year. Sure! What helped? Typing five pages of official report. As if I wrote the stress out of my body.”

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