Dutch tourist hotspot, Amsterdam, turns into an "urban jungle" after dark as police are powerless to handle the crime, violence and drug trade. This, according to the city's ombudsman, Arre Zuurmond."The city centre becomes an urban jungle at night," Zuurmond told Dutch paper, Trouw. "Criminal money flourishes, there is no authority and the police can no longer handle the situation."
Drugs are being sold openly in the streets, pedestrian areas are used for car and bike races, there's widespread theft and other offences, the ombudsman said, using the world "mayhem" to describe what's happening in the city.
The problem plaguing the capital of the Netherlands may be part of a larger issue, according to Dutch media. There are around 160,000 people "irrevocably convicted" who have avoided punishment, Trouw reports, citing data from the municipality of Amsterdam.
As an experiment, Zuurmond set up three CCTV cameras at Leidseplein square, a busy area encircled by bars and clubs located in the south western part of the city centre: "One night we counted 900 offences, mainly between the hours of 2:00am and 4:00am. The atmosphere is grim, and there is an air of lawlessness".
The ombudsman further told Trouw: "Scooters race through the pedestrian areas. There is a lot of shouting. Drugs are being bought. There is stealing," he said, adding that police often do not even try to intervene."There is violence but no action. You can even pee on the van of a mobile [police]unit and the driver won't say anything," Zuurmond said. He also described the situation at the square at night as "intolerable lack of authority."
Zuurmond explains that the situation is partly due to government policy, "The government has deliberately stimulated tourism after the economic crisis, but [it]has forgotten to... take additional [security]measures."
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