The municipality of Rotterdam and the police will increase security and supervision in places that have recently been plagued by explosions. A spokesman for the municipality said this. What those measures entail is a secret. “We don’t want to make the criminals wiser than they already are,” said the spokesman.
Last week there were many attacks in Rotterdam, sometimes two in one night. There were eight in total, two of which were foiled.
There were four attacks on the Crooswijkseweg in North Rotterdam alone, one of which was foiled. In the night from Saturday to Sunday it was again hit there at a toko, where a bottle with liquid and tape had already been found on the window the night before after a local resident had smelled a strange smell. There was an explosion on Sunday morning, and the windows flew out.
The police call the series ‘remarkable’ and are looking to see if there is a relationship between the incidents. “We often see clusters of explosions close together or in the same place. Whether that is the case, we don’t know yet.”
Analysis of where police should be when
The police have been carrying out extra patrols for some time now, trying to find out by analyzing places and times at which moment the police can best be visible and invisibly present. ,,But we can’t be on every street corner.” There are already several cameras on the Crooswijkseweg. The bombers apparently don’t care.
On the Van Speykstraat in the Oude West, two young Rotterdammers aged 14 and 15 were arrested this week thanks to camera surveillance. They placed a bomb made of fireworks and petrol. This was after there had already been an explosion and shelling in the same street that week.
‘Young boys don’t realize danger’
“When we catch suspects, they are often the executors and not the clients,” the police admits. “To what extent do these young boys realize the danger. Suppose someone just walks by. It’s really lucky that only one person was injured this year.”
A 32-year-old Rotterdammer was arrested in the investigation into the attacks on Crooswijkseweg, but that has not yet put an end to the violence. A 21-year-old Rotterdammer was arrested before the explosion on Strevelsweg on Friday night.
In the Rotterdam region, 49 successful explosions at homes and business premises have been counted so far this year. That’s just as many as last year. Catching perpetrators and preventing new attacks is the ‘highest priority’ for the police, who believe that drug conflicts often play in the background. Family members are also regular targets.
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