Last weekend, the question arose on social media why partygoers are not fined, while small groups in the street are thrown on the coupon. The police attribute this to the fact that there is often too little capacity to register all those present. In Zoetermeer it was not clear that it was a large party, so only four police officers came to the report. “With four men you cannot fine a few hundred men,” said a spokesman.
Instead of sending the partygoers away, the police can also choose to ‘freeze’ the situation and call for reinforcements. In such a case, you have to wait until more agents are on site. “But if we are going to force people to wait and then be able to fine them, they will of course run away,” said the police spokesman.
At the beginning of this month, a party was also closed in Limburg: there were about 150 partygoers together and 25 fines were handed out.
Along the track
According to Willem Woelen, national corona commander of the police, there is another interest at play. He says partygoers are fined where possible, but points out that safety always comes first. When many people come together, it poses a risk of contamination due to the corona virus.
Woeleners: “Visitors must get to safety as quickly as possible.” For the police this means: leave. Keeping partygoers together creates a greater risk of contamination. In Hilversum, another factor was that the party was held close to the railway, and that was also risky.
Illegal parties are not a new phenomenon, according to Woelen: even before the corona period, raves were held in forests or homes and sometimes on industrial sites. According to the police chief, it is difficult to say whether there is more enthusiasm for this now that the catering industry is closed. Woeleners: “Those parties were already there before the covid period, but we often only came when there was nuisance. Now we have to intervene faster. It is therefore difficult to compare.”
Staatsbosbeheer recognizes this: according to a spokesperson there are now no more parties than normal, but since corona people go relatively more often with “a crate of beer into the forest” because they were sent away in parks.
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