It is a kitchen knife that is on the shelves of Action for 99 cents. Earlier this year, the Zaanstreek police had caught several young people with the knife. For example, two 12-year-old boys were stopped by the police who had bought the knives ‘to stab people’.
Sales ban
The police then wrote that ‘the owner of the shop where the knives were said to have been bought was made aware of his responsibilities’. It is now clear that it concerns Action, who immediately decided to impose a sales ban for anyone under the age of sixteen.
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“I think it’s really fantastic”, Action spokesperson Yvette Moll tells RTL Nieuws. “It was such a simple question from a very determined police officer. We decided to respond immediately.”
Extra control
For several months now, in all four hundred Dutch Action stores, cards have been hanging on the shelf with knives, stating: ‘We do not sell knives to persons under the age of 16’.
“In addition, there is also an extra check at the till,” explains Moll. “As soon as a knife is scanned, the cashier must check whether the customer’s age is over 16 years old.” The sales ban applies to dozens of different types of knives that the Action sells.
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The spokesperson thinks it is ‘very nice to hear’ that the local police officer in Zaandam notices that fewer young youths with knives are seen on the street. “Of course I don’t know whether it also makes a difference nationally,” says Moll. In any case, the purchasing manager has not seen that significantly fewer knives have been sold in recent months. “But we simply sell a lot of stuff, so that difference will be difficult to detect.”
The neighborhood police officer who initially reprimanded Action praises the retail chain via Facebook. “Experience shows that after this action, months later, we did not find a knife from the Action among minors. The possession of weapons among young people has clearly decreased because of this action. Compliments to the Action!”
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Or would young people not just go to another retail chain to buy a knife? In any case, setting a ban is very simple, according to Moll. “We just did it and it didn’t cause any problems at all here in the shops. Apparently it worked for the police.”
The Zaanstreek police has been concerned for some time about gun ownership among young people. In February we were therefore at a major action 7500 lockers checked in secondary schools. It found knives, an electric shock weapon, pepper spray, hammers, illegal fireworks and counterfeit money.
16-year-old Nick stabbed to death
In 2017, 16-year-old Nick was stabbed to death in Zaandam by a 15-year-old boy, according to the perpetrator because Nick had not supplied him with drugs. Nick’s father wants young people is forbidden to walk around with a knife.
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