How could things go wrong in Scheveningen? ‘The police were with far too little’

John Duyvestijn points to the ice cream cart on his terrace, a classic model with painted beach scenes on the side panels: broken. He points to the huge ice horn that stands behind it and that has to make clear passers -by what is for sale in his case: also broken. To the seats: « All cracked or broken ». The damage is great, says the owner of the Scheveningen ice cream parlor Palazzo: around 8,000 to 10,000 euros.

Duyvestijn himself was not working on Thursday evening, but was able to follow what happened live through the cameras on his building. The ice car, the ice cream, the seats: in the alley that connects his business with the boulevard, they flew through the air. For hours a few hundred young people attacked agents. The broken paving stones and glass fragments that are still on the street remind the cat and mouse game the next morning.

On videos that go on social media you can see how young people jump on a ME bus, throw stones and throw chairs at police officers and how the ME tries to drive away the group. The sun shines on the earliest images; It was dark for a long time when it became quiet again on the street.

From the beginning of the evening the boulevard full of young people. The owner of a kiosk, he does not want to be in the newspaper for security reasons, could have predicted it in the morning: « It was the first really beautiful day of the year, then those young people always come here. » And he also knows how it goes. They ‘glands’, days off, sit on terraces without ordering anything, play ‘rock -hard music’ and blow in places where that is not allowed. « You first see the tourists leaving and then the other people. »

You can call the police at such times, he says, but that doesn’t make much sense. « Those questions: Do they do something that is not allowed? No, they usually don’t do that, but you know that it can still come. » This way it went wrong more often in recent years, with the low point A deadly stabbing in the summer of 2020. Then two rival ‘Drillrap groups’ from Amsterdam and Rotterdam had agreed on the Boulevard for a confrontation.

Sussing

Entrepreneurs and the municipality went around the table and came to the establishment of a so-called ‘SUS team’. Are there groups of young people who come together, there is a tense atmosphere, do there tear mopeds where it is not allowed? Then security guards appeal to people, they warn and appease things. If it still escalates, they have quickly contact with enforcement and police. It is a large area, difficult to oversee and so it can easily escalate. On Thursday evening that SUS team was not there: that will only be used in high season.

The entrepreneur did not see it as busy as Thursday, he says. According to the police, young people would have called each other through social media to fight each other in Scheveningen. There would be sources say NRCIn addition to young people from The Hague, people from Amsterdam and Rotterdam have come to the event. Children, actually: they would be between thirteen and eighteen years old. The entrepreneur did not see mutual fights, « it seemed like one large group. »

Why did it suddenly go wrong? From his kiosk, the entrepreneur saw that the police wanted to ’empty’ the boulevard, towards the streets and tram track behind the boulevard. « They rushed them towards my terrace, » says ice entrepreneur Duyvestijn. An employee of the New York Pizza opposite him then saw ‘for hours’ how the boys were driven away and returned. « The police were far too little, » he says. Several times groups of boys also came in his restaurant. « They said they wanted to order something, but did not do it and just sat down. » According to him, employees of the business were also worked out by one agent, « because we wore our normal clothes after closing time. »

It did indeed take a while before the police had more manpower. Dogs were involved, police horses and ME people. Agents from Rotterdam were also called. The group of young people also grew during the evening, through images that were spread live via social media. According to the police, one rioter was injured after a bite from a police dog and transported to the hospital. A cop and a horse were also slightly injured. Four police cars were destroyed.

No arrests

None of the rioters was arrested on Thursday evening, to the surprise of local and national politicians and of Scheveningen entrepreneurs. But the police make that assessment more often in the event of great disturbances. She then emphasizes the recovery of public order; The arresting of rioters would then throw more oil on the fire. Based on camera images, the police expect to proceed with arrests later.

In Scheveningen, entrepreneur Duyvestijn fears that the riots further deteriorate the image of the seaside resort. « People don’t feel safe and go somewhere else. » The owner of the kiosk on the boulevard is less worried: on the first and last beautiful days of the year it is simply restless, according to him it is ‘busy in a good way’. In The Hague on Friday there is also the fear of the consequences of the NATO summit next month. The thousands of agents who are used for this cannot monitor the Order in Scheveningen.

The Hague city council is expected to debate the riots next Thursday. In it, Mayor Jan van Zanen will have to answer for disturbances that he himself had to follow from the other side of the world: this week he is on a working visit in South America.

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