Young people who hang aimlessly around the Amstelveen shopping center Middenhoven and have already been warned, will be fined immediately from now on. It is one of the measures with which the municipality and the police want to suppress the persistent youth nuisance in the district.
That is what the police say to NH News, in a response to the article published yesterday about the assault of a resident. This abuse is linked by several other local residents to the youth terror that has plagued the neighborhood for some time.
In addition to the tit-for-tat policy, home visits are also part of the ‘plan of action’, according to the police. Officers and youth workers visit the nuisance-causing youths at home to talk to them and their parents.
Furthermore, the police and boas will carry out surveillance more often in the near future. Anyone who just hangs around the shopping center will first receive a warning. But those who have already received a warning cannot count on leniency, but can count on a fine.
Nuisance ‘persistent’
The immediate reason for the measures are observations by the community police officer, who has found that the youth nuisance around the shopping center is ‘persistent’. Some of the young people have been approached and sent away, but that ‘has not yet resulted in a desired result’, according to the police.
Unlike yesterday, the police can now confirm that a violent incident took place on the nearby Orion last Friday evening. No one was arrested that evening, but the victim has filed a report, the police confirm. The investigation into the violence continues and witnesses to the abuse are asked to come forward.
Video
In a video of the evening in question, in the hands of NH Nieuws, you can see how a boy menacingly approaches a man and shouts: “Nice for you, cancer whore” and a little later: “I’m going to kill you. Do I have to pull on you or something ?” Around them is a group of about ten young people. The boy begins to push the man. Whether the abused woman can also be seen in the images is not clear.
It was not the first incident, the police now confirm. “Several reports have recently been made regarding nuisance and vandalism, including throwing eggs. These reports are being carefully investigated. It is a priority for the Amstelveen police with the aim of stopping youth nuisance.”
Incidentally, after a stabbing in 2019, alderman Raat already promised that there would be on and around ‘hotspot’ Orion would be monitored more often. However, things went wrong again a year later, when a large group of young people arrived at the shopping centre came to blows with each other.