Veilig010 - Rotterdam

2014-2018 Safety Programme
#Veilig010
Content
1.
2.
Summary
#Veilig010
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3.
Basic safety in order
Arrangements with police and Public Prosecution Service ice
Stadsmariniers (City marine officers)
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4.
High impact crimes
Burgerblauw in the Tarwewijk district
Burgernet
Safety House Rotterdam-Rijnmond
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5.
Security in the neighbourhood
Safe neighbourhood calls for comprehensive approach
Buurt Bestuurt app
Buiten Beter app
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6.
Lively city
New options
Hospitality industry
Events
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7.
Undermining society (subversive crime)
Human trafficking
Port integrity
Fraudulent landlords
Close collaboration
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8.
High-risk groups
Drug criminals
Radicalisation
Cultural diversity
EU migrant workers
Social care
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9.
Youth
Increased effectiveness individual-oriented action plans
Siblings approach
Youths with mild mental impairment
Last chance approach
Only you decide who you are
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10. Fire safety and industrial safety
www.rijnmondveilig.nl
Community fire brigade
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11. Road Safety
12. Finances and risks
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1 Summary
This is #Veilig010: the fourth Safety program of the city of Rotterdam for 2014-2018.
Compared to 12 years ago, Rotterdam has become much safer. There is less
nuisance, violence and crime: proof that our safety strategy is working.
Safety is an important condition for an attractive city in which the residents and visitors
of Rotterdam can feel welcome, at home and safe. Essential is that we maintain a basic
level of safety in all neighbourhoods. To realise this, efforts of police, street wardens,
stadsmariniers 1, youth workers and residents are needed. Also we prioritise our attention
to high impact crimes. Our policy is to be strict to those who do not abide by the law and
who undermine society. When it comes to these topics, the municipality, police and judicial
authorities join their combating powers. But we also deploy every possible mean to get
those who are willing on track again. This especially includes vulnerable persons. We help
where we can, but we take a firm stand when needed.
Our policy is more explicitly 'Rotterdammer'-oriented than before. The commitment of entrepreneurs and residents to a safe city and neighbourhoods is high. It is not just a matter of
'you ask, we run'. The influence of the people of Rotterdam on the safety policy of the city
increases. Signals and complaints of residents and entrepreneurs are picked up seriously.
We join them in coming to agreements about their own efforts to tackle safety issues and
explore how the municipality can assist. Examples are the projects Buur t Bestuur t 2 and
Stuurgroep in Veilig in de Wijk.3 We focus our attention on preventing Rotterdammers
becoming victims of robbery, mugging or home invasions. In areas that show a substantial
difference between the perception of safety and reported safety rates, pilot projects for perceived safety will be started. We stimulate and support local initiatives that aim at increasing safety.
Safety is more than tackling crime. It requires social and physical investments, proper
management and maintenance of public space, as well as supervision and enforcement.
There will be continued collaboration with all contributing parties. The main targets of this
program are that all Rotterdam neighbourhoods are safe and that the perception of safety
of residents, entrepreneurs and visitors will increase.
Mayor of Rotterdam
Ahmed Aboutaleb
1) City Marine is the literal translation for stadsmarinier. The stadsmariniers are special civil servants that work directly for the
Mayor. They have a special mandate and their own budget to tackle safety issues in the most unsafe neighbourhoods.
2) ‘Neighbourhood leads’ is the literal translation for Buurt Bestuurt. These are neighbourhood committees that take the lead in
tackling safety issues in their own neighbourhood. Partners like police and city wardens take part in the meetings.
3) ‘Steering committee safety in the neighbourhood’ is the literal translation for Stuurgroep Veilig in de Wijk. These are meetings
that are held in unsafe neighbourhoods between the mayor of Rotterdam, important safety- partners and the residents. In
these meetings safety issues are discussed and prioritised. Also other complaints are tackled.
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2 #Veilig010
The programme #Veilig010 that you are now reading is the fourth Safety
programme and covers the period 2014-2018. In the past twelve years, Rotterdam
has become much safer. There is less nuisance, violence and crime. We are proud
of that achievement. However, this is no reason to lean back. We keep on working
on a city in which the people and visitors of Rotterdam feel themselves welcome,
at home and safe. The previous three Safety programmes created a strong basis.
We will continue the district-oriented, individual-oriented and phenomenon-oriented
approaches. The balance struck between prevention and repression will remain
the same. We will combine that balance with the commitment and efforts of all the
citizens of Rotterdam.
Safety is a basic condition for an attractive city. Reduction and prevention of crime remain
top priority. There is no such thing as a guarantee for safety, but we do take proper action
whenever public order and safety are at stake. We join forces with the police and the justice department as well as with a large number of other (social) organisations. Some
districts are not yet safe enough. Moreover, a number of problems are quite persistent.
We focus on such spots and problems. At the same time we keep an eye on the safety
situation in all Rotterdam districts to enable immediate action when needed.
Safety is more than just tackling crime. A safety approach starts with the prevention of
crime. It requires a combination of social and physical investments, proper management
and maintenance of public space, as well as superb forms of supervision and enforcement.
Targets for 2018
For the coming four years, the municipality, in association with our partners, residents and
entrepreneurs, works on maintaining at least the current level of safety and on increasing
the level wherever required. Our ambitions are that Rotterdam has only safe districts and
that residents, entrepreneurs and visitors of the city will feel more safe.
These are the principles underlying our approach:
1. the citizens of Rotterdam are at the heart of the approach;
2. we focus on compliance;
3. we collaborate smartly and effectively;
4. we assume trust and we are transparent in our actions.
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The citizens of Rotterdam are at the heart of the approach
Commitment of entrepreneurs and residents to the safety of their neighbourhood and city
is high. They indicate which problems must be tackled and they take part in the solutions.
Their needs and ideas are at the core of our approach. We agree on what people themselves can do in their neighbourhoods and when the help of the municipality is needed.
We stimulate and support initiatives taken by residents and entrepreneurs, which aim at
increasing safety. We take notice of personal distress of Rotterdammers. We understand
the underlying larger problems and we know what's up in the neighbourhoods, networks
and communities of the city.
We focus on at compliance
We enforce when rules are not complied with. But we also do not want to be just
busy with enforcement only. That is why we are looking into smarter ways to stimulate
compliance to our rules. Together with residents and entrepreneurs. This gives the
Rotterdammers the space to fill in their responsibility for the city. We assume trust, but
will take strong action when this trust is betrayed.
We collaborate smartly and effectively
We collaborate with social organisations, sectors, associations and residents of
Rotterdam who are connected or have become organised. The composition of our
population is changing. The numbers of both younger and older residents increase.
Newcomers present themselves. We keep in contact with all those groups and their
social networks. Since safety relates to the social and physical situation in a district,
we gear our actions to other people who work or live in that neighbourhood. New
technologies and digitizing offer opportunities for a more intelligent and effective
organisation of our approach.
We assume trust and we are transparent in our actions
We offer Rotterdammers an insight into the condition of safety. In this way, they can
get information, address us with problems and join us in finding solutions. With concrete
information, entrepreneurs and residents have more possibilities to address each other as
well as the authorities and appeal to their responsibility for a safe district and city. In our
contact with entrepreneurs and residents we assume trust. We offer space for initiatives.
However, we expect compliance with the rules and agreements already in force.
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Which themes does this programme cover?
During the preparations for this programme, we asked residents and entrepreneurs of
Rotterdam, researchers and other professionals what they thought would be the main
themes for the next four years. This resulted in the following themes:
• basic safety should be in order;
• the number of robberies, home invasions and muggings (high impact crime) must be
reduced;
• residents and entrepreneurs want to feel safer in their own neighbourhoods;
• Rotterdam should remain a lively city with room for the hospitality industry and events.
However, these should be safe and cause little nuisance;
• crime that is disruptive to society (such as human trafficking, drug trade and fraudulent
landlords) should be tackled;
• extra attention must be paid to groups of Rotterdammers who are overrepresented in
nuisance and crime;
• children must grow up safely in the city. Nuisance caused by young people and juvenile
crime must be constrained;
• Rotterdammers want better insight in the risks of the Rotterdam industrial sector and
more attention for fire safety.
• Together we are working on strengthening road safety.
Moreover they indicate that the main responsibility for themes as basic safety, high impact
crime, disruption and risk groups lies with the authorities. The improvement of the safety
themes lively city, neighbourhood safety, youth and risk groups depends on many different
parties.
Assuming that safety is an important condition for an attractive city, safety is a
responsibility for all parts of the municipal organisation. Therefore, mayor and aldermen
of Rotterdam are responsible for the execution and fine tuning of the integrated safety
approach. In this they are assisted by the Stuurgroep Veilig 3) (steering committee
Safety).
This new programme describes the outline of the safety approach, including a number
of targets agreed with the police and the Public Prosecution Service. Several elements
of the programmes and themes will be specified. On a regular basis we inform the city
council on specific programmes (like our youth programme ‘Drawing the line, offering
guidance’ the integrated enforcement programme and the programmes on undermining
and events). Every two years we report about the safety in the city and on developments
in the so-called Wijkprofiel (literally this means the district profile; a monitor executed
by the city of Rotterdam).
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3 Basic safety in order
Safety is a basic condition for an attractive city. It is important for all Rotterdam
districts to be safe. All parties working in the safety approach collaborate in
fulfilling this ambition.
On the basis of the approach we know what is going on in the streets. We combine
information given by residents, entrepreneurs and professionals. This is linked to records
of incidents. Theft, violence, burglary, nuisance, hooliganism and safety perception get
specific attention. Every two years we measure the safety level of all neighbourhoods in
the Wijkprofie (the district profile). The Wijkprofiel is public. Therefore we know which
neighbourhoods need extra attention. This determines our approach.
On the streets police and city wardens are the first point of contact and possible
execution. Police and city wardens are known faces in the neighbourhood: they know the
neighbourhood and are accessible to residents and entrepreneurs. 'Stadsmariniers'1)
(City marine officers), remain present in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods and work on
the most persistent problems. We closely follow the improvements. In case improvements
fail to occur or if the situation deteriorates, we intensify or adapt our approach.
Arrangements with police and Public Prosecution Service
In order to maintain the basic level of safety, current agreements with police and Public
Prosecution Service remain in force until 2015.
Existing agreements:
1. annually (at least) 40 per cent of all robberies will be solved;
2. for all high impact offences the chance of being caught (suspect rate) will be 37.5
per cent;
3. the number of robberies will be reduced by (at least) 25 per cent compared to 2009;
4. the number of home invasions will be (at least) reduced to the level of 2010;
5. (at least) 15 per cent of the number of home invasions will be solved annually;
6. prevention of home invasions continues to be an element of our integrated approach,
for which we ask cooperation of all citizens of Rotterdam;
7. victims of a home invasion, robbery or mugging will be provided with aftercare;
8. all annoying, disturbing and criminal youth gangs in Rotterdam will be tackled;
9. key persons in all groups causing nuisance will be dealt with, this prevents new
criminal groups from forming;
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10. the most criminal youths (the big shots) will be discussed in het Veiligheidshuis (this is
literally a Safety House which is a network cooperation between safety partners) and
will be dealt with accordingly. In addition, the behaviour of their siblings will be
analysed and they too will be dealt with if necessary (system-oriented approach);
11. the municipality checks the required information for (juvenile) rehabilitation in all
cases for an integrated and conclusive approach of criminal youngsters;
12. with the conviction of criminal youngsters who are being discussed in het
Veiligheidshuis, conditions will be set if possible;
13. the existing agreements with police concerning safety in public transport will be
continued.
The new agreements are:
1. in neighbourhoods with a large difference between the feeling of safety and safety
rates, we start intensive pilot projects regarding safety perception. In these projects we
encourage commitment and participation of entrepreneurs and residents. So we are
looking for new and innovative approaches;
2. we strengthen and expand Buur t Bestuur t 3). We implement the recommendations
from the evaluation of Buur t Bestuur t. We agree on commitment and capacity of
professionals of Buur t Bestuur t such as Stadsbeheer (City Management) and police;
3. in the programme Ondermijning (undermining/subversive crimes) we formulate concrete targets in consultation with the safety partners. We secure the role of the
Regional Information and Expertise Centre (RIEC) firmly;
4. as for traffic safety, concrete targets will be set after consultation with the partners.
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Stadsmariniers1) (City marine officers)
With the Stadsmariniers Rotterdam deploys its best people in the most vulnerable
neighbourhoods. The Stadsmariniers have a clear assignment: ensure that the
neighbourhood becomes safe again and take all necessary steps to achieve this.
They experience problems themselves and keep on working until results are realised.
Much can be achieved by having all key parties of the neighbourhood collaborate.
If this is not enough Stadsmariniers have their own budget to deploy at their own
discretion. He or she informs the mayor, the police chief and the chief public
prosecutor on the state of affairs on a regular basis. The Stadsmarinier organises
steering committees in the district, in which they come to agreements with residents
and entrepreneurs about neighbourhood improvements. The Stadsmarinier supervises progress of improvements and ensures speeding up if necessary. If a problem
is very persistent and also noticeable in other neighbourhoods, a Stadsmarinier may
be deployed for that particular problem. This is already the case for high impact
crimes.
• Every two years we measure the safety level of all districts. The safety level is
published in the district profile.
• We deploy the Stadsmariniers in those districts where ensuring basic safety fails.
• We deploy the Stadsmariniers for persistent themes that surpass district boundaries.
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Stuurgroep Veilig in de wijk
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4 High impact crime
Three types of crime have a high impact on victims: home invasion, mugging
and robbery. In 2012 an intensive approach was started to combat robbery and
mugging. Successfully, as the number of those crimes has decreased. As from
2013 an additional approach to combat home invasion has started.
About 600 perpetrators of high impact crime have been listed and they are given priority
in het Veiligheidshuis Rotterdam-Rijnmond. Municipality, probation service and police
visit this group, in order to keep a close watch and help them if they choose to mend
their ways. Furthermore, we prevent that their siblings get into criminal activity. The
temptation to earn fast money in criminal practice must be reduced. We investigate
perpetrators' backgrounds. Many of them have previously committed crimes and are
already known to the police. We draw up a profile of this group of perpetrators to find out
which of them present the greatest risk.
Most home invasions and muggings are impulse crimes. This means that perpetrators
seize the opportunity when it arises. We inform Rotterdammers on how to prevent
becoming a victim. In that way we stimulate awareness of the citizens of Rotterdam
on how they can contribute. We do so at residents' meetings and by organising
assertiveness trainings (especially for elderly persons). We visit victims and advise them
on how to prevent repetition. Rotterdammers can help by reporting suspicious situations
(sooner) and by taking part in Burgernet (this is a mobile service people can register to
receive police messages asking to be on the look-out).
City wardens and security guards cooperate at moments and in places where many
offences are committed. The police uses area scans to map those locations. We
strengthen cooperation with the neighbourhood. We connect entrepreneurs' CCTVs to
the central municipal and police CCTV post. By taking specific actions against receivers
of stolen goods, trading such goods will become more difficult. We talk with housing
cooperations about precautionary measures against burglary in the houses they renovate.
Police reports and follow-up of these reports will be given priority. Victims will know
within two weeks how their reports are being processed. The Public Prosecution Service
demands more severe punishments and probation supervision. Furthermore they claim
damage compensation for victims.
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Burgerblauw in the Tarwewijk district
Neighbourhood watch project Burgerblauw (Neighbourhood blue) increases safety
and the sense of safety in the Tarwewijk district. The project has been initiated by the
districts residents. Every two weeks volunteers of Burgerblauw and representatives of
the police and Stadsbeheer make a tour through the district to check and inspect the
streets. On such an evening, they list between 50 and 100 issues. Now the district also
has Jong Burgerblauw, a youth division which inspects the streets and addresses other
youths on their conduct.
Burgernet
Burgernet is an online project run by the police and municipality in which residents can
take part. The police may start a Burgernet action after for instance a report of home
invasion, robbery or missing persons. Participants in the neighbourhood receive a voice
or text message on their mobile phones asking them to look out for a person or a vehicle.
They can report their information directly to the police control room, by dialling the free
Burgernet number 0800-0011. The control room passes the information directly to
police officers on patrol in the neighbourhood. All participants are informed afterwards of
the result of the Burgernet action.
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Veiligheidshuis Rotterdam-Rijnmond
Het Veiligheidshuis Rotterdam-Rijnmond is a network cooperation of municipality,
police, justice and health partners and has an individual-oriented approach to address
habitual offenders, perpetrators of high impact crimes (robbery, home invasion and
mugging), juvenile delinquents, offenders of domestic violence and former convicts.
In short: those who have many problems and as such cause many problems. Het
Veiligheidshuis prevents these persons from crossing the line again. In reality it turns
out that a combination of punishment and care is the most effective approach. Therefore, this group requires a collective approach and this is precisely the added value of
het Veiligheidshuis . Starting from the network cooperation, we are able to realise a
close connection with the criminal justice chain in the ASAP-approach of the Public
Prosecution Service.
• Target agreements have been made with the police and justice about the maximum
number of offences per crime type per year and the minimum number of convicted
suspects.
• • Rotterdammers receive information on how to prevent becoming a victim of high
impact crime.
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5 Safety in the neighbourhood
The safety in Rotterdam has improved greatly over the past years. This is
reflected in figures presented by the police. Residents say that they feel more
safe in the city.
The ambition of this safety programme is that all Rotterdam districts are safe and that
Rotterdammers have an increased sense of safety. Talks with residents and entrepreneurs prove that safety in their own neighbourhood is important to them. They want to
be able to go out at night freely and do not want to experience nuisance caused by
neighbours. Moreover, they need traffic to be safe in their neighbourhoods and they
want a safe place for their children to grow up in.
In the districts where basic safety levels fail, we deploy the Stadsmariniers. Furthermore,
Rotterdammers indicate themselves what they need in their district. The municipal
authorities support the fulfilment of these wishes. That is why we continue with the
project Buur t Bestuur t. In this project the residents of a neighbourhood together with
the police, Stadsbeheer (city management) and the neighbourhood networker determine
which three safety and quality of life problems need to be solved first. Police,
Stadsbeheer and other relevant parties start working on these three problems and give
feed back. The residents contribute in finding solutions. We use the recommendations
from the Buur t Bestuur t evaluation to improve this course of action. We include
residents of all Rotterdam districts in the steps we take to increase safety and the
quality of life in their neighbourhoods.
We can be approached for all safety problems in the neighbourhood. Districts that are
not safe enough receive extra attention. For instance, in such districts we organise
meetings, called Stuurgroep in the Wijk. In a Stuurgroep, the mayor, the police chief,
the chief public prosecutor, the associated aldermen and other partners discuss with
residents and entrepreneurs the problems in their neighbourhoods. Together they make
agreements about improvements which must be dealt with before the next Stuurgroep.
This concerns both the actions the municipality and residents take.
Based on the new Wijkprofiel and neighbourhood scans we select pilot areas in which
the feeling of safety strongly diverges from objective safety rates. In these areas, we
cooperate with all parties involved to devote ourselves to improving perceived safety.
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These five rules for communication are central in the approach:
1) act quickly and visibly on signs of crime and nuisance;
2) direct your action to a limited area;
3) involve residents in your approach;
4) invest in people, houses and public space; and
5) apply customized communication.
In addition, we encourage and support involvement and participation of entrepreneurs
and residents in the areas of quality of life and safety. In this, we join the new gebiedscommissies (district committees) and look for innovative approaches. Social media might
be of help. Moreover, we aim at improving the city-image by closer collaboration with
organisations that commit to Rotterdam city marketing.
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Safe neighbourhood calls for comprehensive approach
The municipality joins forces with the neighbourhood police and the Public Prosecution
Service to increase safety in the districts. The Public Prosecution Service employs a
new method, the so called ASAP-approach. This approach deals with perpetrators of
frequent occuring crimes quicker and more effectively.
In cooperation with residents and entrepreneurs, the municipality works on a public
space that is clean, undamaged and green. This contributes to pleasant and liveable
surroundings. It ensures less vandalism and crime. Together with residents, we try to
create meeting places for them in their own neighbourhood. Clean, neat and tidy streets
will have a positive effect on the neighbourhood and its residents. Stadsbeheer safeguards and improves the basic quality of public space and targets have been set for the
level of cleanliness, tidiness and public nuisance. Furthermore, Stadsbeheer executes
a specific programme for influencing behaviour. This programme focuses on preventing
littering and public nuisance.
In addition, we continue our awareness of risks resulting from the economic crisis and
budget cutbacks. We pay attention to both problems in the domestic environment (for
instance increase of domestic violence or debts) as well as in the streets (such as
tramps and addicts).
Buurt Bestuurt 2-app
The app Buur t Bestuur t gives information on the neighbourhood, activities and the
Buurt Bestuurt committee. Residents can also use the app to send their suggestions
and messages to the committee.
Buiten Beter-app
Residents can use the app Buiten Beter to report public space complaints to the
municipality. Notifiers receive a message on how the complaint is dealt with.
• We strengthen and expand Buurt Bestuurt committees.
• In those districts where safety is not yet in order, we organise the Stuurgroep in de
Wijk.
• In those districts that show a great discrepancy between safety rates and the feeling
of safety we will start pilot projects to increase the feeling of safety.
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6 Lively city
Rotterdam is an attractive city to live and work in, it has a flourishing nightlife
and offers a large range of activities. Entrepreneurs, residents and visitors turn
Rotterdam into a lively city. They need trust and space for their initiatives. To keep
the city attractive, it should be safe. Therefore, rules are in force for the hospitality
industry and big events, as these can cause nuisance and risks.
We think along with event organisers and entrepreneurs on how to facilitate them,
especially when their initiatives are beneficial for the neighbourhood. Event organisers
carry the main responsibility for a safe course of an event. We make agreements with
them on which measures are needed to have their activities take place. When evaluating
an event, we look at the course of the event in relation to the measures taken and permit
conditions implemented and if they need to be adjusted next time. In this way organisers
and entrepreneurs give better information to the neighbourhood about their activities.
The hospitality industry and quality of life are in balance: we aim at strengthening the
relationship between entrepreneurs and local government. We operate on basis of trust.
However, if he or she abuses our trust, an effective measure will be taken. Tailor-made is
the principle. Enforcement is not our starting point, we will seek collaboration to increase
compliance to the rules.
New options
We are always on the lookout for new possibilities to keep Rotterdam lively.
Four examples of innovating measures are:
1. a permit for (outside) wallmounted seats is no longer needed;
2. the entrepreneur will be granted a temporary operating permit while waiting for the
final permit;
3. organisers of pop-up initiatives may be granted an operating permit with limited
duration;
4. we digitise the permit procedures for the hospitality industry and events.
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Hospitality industry
As of 2012, Rotterdam has a new hospitality industry policy. This was developed after
evaluating the former policy and researching the balance between liveliness and nuisance. In this new policy the economic vision is leading: we want a lively and attractive city
with room for initiatives from entrepreneurs. In order to achieve this, we collaborate with
entrepreneurs to ensure that people are able to enjoy a safe nightlife with little nuisance
for residents. This subject is discussed with residents and entrepreneurs. A successful
example of collaboration with the hospitality industry is the specific agreement to end
price promotions such as happy hours and all-you-can-drink deals. Entrepreneurs of the
Oude Haven and the Stadhuisplein signed an agreement to seal this and to encourage
serving alcohol to youths responsibly.
Events
In recent years, much attention has been given to safety during events. This attention
remains. The core principle is that events should be possible. We are looking for
measures to make our events more attractive and safe at the same time.
Most events are organised in the city centre. As it only has a few sites for large-scale
events, these sites are under pressure. This has many consequences for traffic and
local residents. That is why we focus on spreading events in both time and location.
We are exploring whether and how more events can be organised without permits. In
the future a simple notification could then be sufficient. This would apply for areas where
few events are being organised and nuisance for local residents is minimal.
• Organisers of events and entrepreneurs give better information to the neighbourhood about their activities.
• We are exploring whether and how more events can be organised without permits.
• We digitise the permit procedures for the hospitality industry and events.
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7 Undermining society (subversive crime)
Drug trade, money laundering, exploitation and cybercrime are examples of criminal
economic activities which could undermine society. Profits made by criminals are
being used to expand their power. They are often hard to tackle.
Criminals and their activities subvert legal order. This is referred to as undermining society.
As a result the underworld can become interwoven with legitimate business. For example
when criminals start to invest in properties or port activities. Generally speaking, this type
of crime is not visible in the streets, but it does undermine common and legally accepted
practice in our society. That is why we are attentive to such practices. The municipality of
Rotterdam keeps a watchful eye on its employees in order to prevent this type of crime to
infiltrate in public bodies. The extension of the Public Administration Act (Probity Screening)
offers us more possibilities to submit entrepreneurs and organizations to an integrity
assessment. We develop our own programme to tackle Undermining.
We intensify our collaboration with the Public Prosecution Service, police and other partners
to combat undermining. This is necessary, since subversive crime is a complicated issue. It
is often the total of different criminal activities, concentrated in an area where criminals gain
a position of (economic) power. Once you dig deeper, a world of criminality lies behind one
single report of nuisance. This phenomenon can only be combated by intense collaboration.
We construct a joint intelligence position, collectively set priorities and supervise execution
of action. Finally, we monitor the successes achieved.
With our approach we make visible that we do not tolerate criminal behaviour and that crime
does not pay. United we determine our course of action by looking at:
1. vulnerable areas: which geographic areas contain many transactions of goods, means or
properties. If we receive many single reports of crime in these areas, we dig deeper to
find out whether undermining is at hand;
2. persons who are being exploited physically or mentally; whether human rights are being
affected. For instance in the case of women trafficking;
3. criminal activities with the highest risk: phenomena that have been related to undermining
on several occasions and which are the sum total of criminal activities (for instance illegal
activities relating to prostitution, property or drugs).
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Human trafficking
Internet plays an increasingly important part in both exploitation and counteracting
prostitution. For instance, offenders offer the services of their victims through the internet.
Some victims can only be approached through the internet. So we pay more attention to
this. We take a special interest in minors. We increase prevention by warning youths for
the dangers of social media and loverboys. We want sexuality and deviant sexual behaviour
to be open for discussion between parents and children. We prevent victims to fall back
into prostitution.
Port Integrity
The port of Rotterdam has a reputation for its fast cargo handling. This requires an
extra effort when intercepting illegal goods and tracking criminal money flows. In the
coming years, the municipality will take a more active position by trying to chart
vulnerable processes in the port and industrial areas. However, the municipality
examines which instruments it can deploy to ensure the integrity of the port.
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Fraudulent landlords
The real estate and construction sectors suffer badly from the economic crisis.
Rotterdam has quite a number of privately owned houses in vulnerable neighbourhoods.
In a number of districts the population is ageing and less new houses are built. As a
result more, not renovated, houses are for sale and the chance increases that these
properties degenerate (further). This means the risk of an increase of fraudulent landlords who are attracted to the degenerated and relatively cheap housing stock. In these
properties there is an increased chance of criminal activities (for instance illegal
prostitution or cannabis plantations) . It also increases the possibility of exploitation of
vulnerable groups, for instance by housing more people than allowed in a property.
Real estate owned by fraudulent landlords adversely affects safety in a neighbourhood.
The properties offer a basis for criminal activities and generate nuisance for local residents. Besides tackling any nuisance from such properties and offering help to victims
when needed, we also collaborate with private parties to expose and discourage the
underlying structures, such as money laundering, fraud and mortgage fraud.
Close collaboration
When counteracting undermining, we collaborate with many parties, including the
Regional Information and Expertise Centre (RIEC). RIEC focuses on supporting
municipalities in their actions against organised crime. In addition, RIEC optimises and
supports collaboration between parties involved.
Who are our partners for collaboration? For example all municipalities in our police
region, the Youth Care Agency, Humanitas, the Dutch Banking Association, the
foundation to prevent mortgage fraud, the National Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and
the Unemployment Insurance Act, Tax and Customs Administration, the Fiscal
Intelligence and Investigation Service, the Inspection Service of the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Employment, Stedin, housing cooperations, the Royal Netherlands Military
Police and the provincial authorities. And of course the national police and the Public
Prosecution Service.
• We develop a new Rotterdam programme for undermining, in which partners agree
what they can do to prevent criminals from undermining the common and legally
accepted practice in our society.
• On a regional level we collaborate with the RIEC.
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8 High-risk groups
Most Rotterdammers are doing fine. However, if we look at crime and nuisance,
we see that certain groups of Rotterdammers have more problems or cause more
problems than other groups.
For several reasons some groups are more vulnerable, which increases the risk of falling
into crime. Besides these groups, Rotterdam has a few other groups that do not want to
obey the rules and as such spoil the city's atmosphere. We are very clear in stating to
such groups that unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated. On the other hand we
offer the space and help to change unacceptable behaviour. Furthermore, we invest in
prevention of safety problems.
Drug criminals
Counteracting drug nuisance and drug crime remains a theme in Rotterdam. There are
families and juveniles who are involved in drug dealing and think they are untouchable.
They are the negative role models in the neighbourhood and give Rotterdam a bad
reputation. Such youngsters and families get their income from criminal activities, inside
and outside Rotterdam. A big part of these youngsters known to the police in Rotterdam,
also trade in Limburg. Drug nuisance can grow into organised crime, which not only
affects the pedagogical climate in the neighbourhood, but also undermines underlying
social structures.
We notice that a very large number of these juveniles grow up in families with multiple
problems. Such families usually have low incomes and the level of education is low. They
also live in vulnerable neighbourhoods, where they are surrounded by peer groups. These
circumstances make them more susceptible to a criminal career. This career sometimes
starts at a young age. We counteract this by tackling those who cause drug nuisance and
drug criminals with an approach that is integrated and individual-oriented. To achieve a
change in behaviour often requires a compulsory - instead of voluntary - course of
assistance. We do so in concerted collaboration in a network of local partners, such as
Stadsbeheer, the Youth Care Agency, (juvenile) probation service, the Public Prosecution
Service and het Veiligheidshuis.
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We aim at:
• persecuting drug families, drug runners and dealers in case of nuisance in the streets;
• preventing increase in criminals by approaching siblings of drug runners and dealers, in
order to prevent them from being drawn into drug trade and use at an early age;
• disrupting the infrastructure for production and logistics of drug trade;
• tackling networks, criminogenic systems, including the facilitators in those systems
(for instance by tackling dubious car rental companies);
• more and better combinations of intelligence and examining which interventions are the
most effective;
• when possible, seizing criminal assets.
Radicalisation
The municipality of Rotterdam has an Information Switchpoint Radicalisation. The
Switchpoint acts on signs of radicalisation. We deal with most of the signs by giving
existing treatments and guidance in the municipal organisation, for instance through
intervention by DOSA (integrated approach by municipal district councils) and/or the
Jongerenloket (youth desk). If necessary, we delegate this to the police. For more
serious cases, for instance a report of ideologically driven radicalism in combination
with psychiatric issues, we deploy an expert group on radicalisation. This group consists
of specialists who, because of their expertise, skills and contacts with the target group,
are able to realise actual changes. Besides this, our focus remains on prevention as well.
We direct our actions against the breeding grounds for radicalisation by encouraging
integration in society, assertiveness and prevention of polarisation.
We have networks and contacts in social organisations, including mosque councils,
self-organisations and youth workers. In practice we receive many reports from our social
network, such as (self-)organisations and key contacts. This network has an important
function for de-radicalisation as well as reporting signals. The network especially offers us
access to groups and group members that often are hard to approach. To detect signs of
radicalisation sooner training is offered to staff members in the network.
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Cultural diversity
A different cultural background may hamper becoming part of our society. Mutual
misunderstandings, caused by cultural differences, can make it hard to reach these
groups. That is why we pay specific attention to these groups. We make contact with
communities with various cultural backgrounds, by continuously working on our networks
of key contacts and self-organisations. We involve them in the discussion about issues
and in getting them to solve problems themselves. By stretching out our networks into
the finest arteries of the city, we have a solid intelligence position and are quickly
informed of what is happening. When desired, we offer support and when necessary,
we take action against crime and nuisance.
We know exactly how to deal with such groups. We offer expertise and train professionals in how to handle cultural diversity. This makes them more effective in preventing
problems in these groups. In addition, we discuss with those communities how to
empower them and how to take responsibility. We deploy positive role models to prevent
social isolation and to encourage participation. This reduces the risk of falling into crime.
EU migrant workers
We use the approach directed at networks also for the expected influx of migrant
workers from Middle and Eastern Europe. Part of the migrant workers mainly settle
in vulnerable neighbourhoods, as these contain the largest number of low-rent
accommodation in the private sector. Because of their low level of education, insufficient
proficiency of the Dutch language and their lack of knowledge of the Dutch legal
system, they run a greater risk of becoming involved in situations of nuisance and petty
crime. Another concern is that they make an appeal - often uninsured - on Dutch health
care, for instance for addiction or psychiatric problems.
Stigmatisation of those migrants who are privileged and positive to their new
environment must be prevented by restricting the negative effects caused by risky
and underprivileged migrants. By bringing together expertise and information from the
networks of professionals and individuals of the target groups, we contribute to faster
integration in our city. In addition, we seek to prevent and combat nuisance in public
space, nuisance in buildings and their surroundings, petty crime and organised crime.
We have an eye for the risk of exploitation of this vulnerable group. This action is part
of the currently running programme EU Migrant Workers.
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Social care
In the past ten years, the ‘social care plan’ has succeeded to get homeless people off
the streets and to offer them help. This has greatly increased the feeling of safety and
homeless people have now almost disappeared from the streets. However, because of
the economic crisis, various government measures and the arrival of new target groups,
the pressure is building greatly on social care and vulnerable neighbourhoods.
Furthermore, there are cutbacks on the facilities for people with a psychiatric disorder.
The effect is that they remain living in their homes. This too, causes additional pressure
on the neighbourhood. That is why we keep a close watch on these neighbourhoods to
see whether they still can handle the pressure. We do so by working in community teams
and by creating supportive structures in the neighbourhood. This calls for investment in
prevention and in the flow within care institutions and a manageable outflow from care
institutions. It must be prevented that individuals who are not capable of living on their
own have to live independently as this might increase nuisance and unsafety in the
neighbourhoods again.
• We disrupt the infrastructure for production and logistics of drug trade.
• We pay attention to the siblings of drug criminals in order to reduce susceptibility for
opting for a criminal career.
• We prevent stigmatisation of migrant workers by restricting the negative effects of
risky and underprivileged migrants at the earliest possible stage.
• We are watchful to find out whether neighbourhoods can handle the pressure of
vulnerable persons coming from social care. If this is not the case, we take action.
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9 Youth
The approach of juvenile delinquency and crime is formulated in the programme
'Setting boundaries, providing guidance'. This programme runs to 2015 and is the
final element of those programmes in Rotterdam that are directed at investing in the
future of children and youth. We set clear boundaries and define at what point
'hanging about' turns into 'public nuisance and criminal behaviour'. By implementing
preventive measures, we make sure that fewer youths start causing problems. The
approach formulated in 'Setting boundaries, providing guidance' has been designed
along three lines: area-based, group-based and individual-based.
The area-based approach is directed at hotspots in the city where youth nuisance is
greatest. In hotspots demanding additional capacity, expertise and enforcement, we
deploy the Urban Youth Work Team and the Stadsbeheer youth enforcers (previously street
coaches). The Urban Youth Work Team and the youth enforcers are an additional measure
on top of local youth work. The target is to reduce the number of reports of youth nuisance
at the hotspots by 25% within one year from the start.
The group-based approach uses the Beke method to tackle problem youth groups. The
effort directed at youth groups is taken at the earliest possible stage in order to prevent
the behaviour of these youngsters to develop into causing heavy nuisance or crime. In
collaboration with the police and the Public Prosecution Service we intensify the use of the
Beke method and adjust it when changes in the behaviour of youth groups call for it. Every
youth group gets a targeted plan of action focussing on the gathering of the necessary
information. The municipal triangle decides on the official start and ending of the actions
against a youth group.
Those youths from the youth groups who are being identified as the most criminal ones are
given an individual-based approach in the Veiligheidshuis.
The individual-based approach has the guiding principle ‘take hold and don't let go’.
Most criminal youngsters from 12 years onwards, the big shots, will be dealt with in the
Veiligheidshuis. In such cases we drop the age limit of 18 years - the high-risk group of
young adults (18 to 23 years) will be dealt with in the big shot approach explicitly. The
individual-based approach of a big shot consists firstly of setting the boundaries by
deploying criminal law, civil law and administrative law. To prevent problem behaviour in
future the young person and his or her family will receive all assistance needed. Should
regular methods prove to be insufficient, we will deploy further methods, such as intensive
case management. We also examine each big shot's family in more detail to assess the
risk factors for their siblings (see text box Siblings approach).
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In the coming years we will chart recidivism of the big shots. We aim at finding out what is
really needed to curb recidivism. We want to know more about the factors that influence
behavioural change in criminal youth and how we can increase assertiveness of youths.
In 2015 we will evaluate the progress of the approach of the programme 'Setting
boundaries, providing guidance'. The evaluation and an analysis of the problems at that
time will be used to sharpen our approach and aims, in cooperation with the police,
Public Prosecution Service and the Safety House. In addition, we will closely follow the
implementation of decentralised youth care. By transferring youth care to the municipality,
we are able to organise care for youngsters more effectively and closer. We ensure that the
currently developing community teams youth & family will be linked up properly to the
approach of criminal youths and families.
Siblings approach
Bad behaviour acts as a role model, for instance the negative criminal behaviour of
an older sibling. This turns out to be a high-risk factor and younger children in the
family fall into crime more often than in families without such role models. Besides this,
a good relationship between parents and children is essential. With our siblings
approach we try to prevent criminal behaviour by offering help at an early stage. A
new element is that an offence by a family member can be the reason to offer help to
their siblings and parents.
Youths with a mild mental impairment
Youngsters with a mild mental impairment are greatly overrepresented in (juvenile)
criminal law proceedings, whereas they remain underrepresented in voluntary care support. This has various reasons. They are easy to influence, they often have psychological
problems and are insufficiently supported by their parents. More often they find it hard to
spend their leisure time meaningful and often seek their self-esteem in the streets. Other
risk factors can be living in a bad neighbourhood and having relatives who show criminal
behaviour.
Rotterdam is one of the cities in which a national pilot project starts that is aimed at
early identification of youngsters with a mild mental impairment in migrant workers families. In this project we try to reach this group at an earlier stage and offer them voluntary
assistance, resulting in a decrease of the overrepresentation in (juvenile) criminal law.
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Last chance approach
We run an experiment with an approach aimed at breaking through the negative
behaviour of youths by activating their networks (such as family, friends, teachers) to help
them change their behaviour and solve their problems. During a session, the youth's network confronts him or her with his or her behaviour and its effects. Furthermore, the youth
will be assigned a mentor from his or her network. The mentor motivates, stimulates and
assists the youth to tackle his or her problems and by keeping on 'the right track'.
Only you decide who you are
In the project 'Only you decide who you are', we cooperate with the Ministry of
Security and Justice, sports clubs and schools at the intersection of safety policy and
sports. The underlying idea is prevention. Sports stars, such as Soufiane Touzani are
its ambassadors. By organising sports clinics in schools, they literally get the youngsters
for whom sports is not an obvious choice of recreation to move. Exercising together
gives structure, builds discipline and self-confidence, and helps youth to get the best out
of themselves and to keep on the straight and narrow.
• All Rotterdam youth groups that are criminal, annoying or causing nuisance will
be tackled.
• Key persons in all groups causing nuisance will be dealt with accordingly to
prevent new criminal groups from forming.
• The most criminal youths (the big shots) will be dealt with in the Veiligheidshuis.
• If possible, conditions will be set in the sentence of criminal youths who are being
discussed in the Veiligheidshuis.
• The overrepresentation of persons with a mild mental impairment in (juvenile)
criminal law decreases.
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10 Fire safety and industrial safety
Rotterdammers are more and more aware of the importance of a safe industrial
environment to their residential areas.
The DCMR Environmental Protection Agency Rijnmond and the Security Region
Rotterdam-Rijnmond have come to agreements on physical safety: how the rules for fire
and industrial safety can be applied and checked in the best possible way. The municipality
will not be granted more funds in the coming years. However, new incidents often result in
additional rules. Because of the economic crisis, companies carefully consider which measures are really necessary. Safety considerations have to compete with economic interests.
When setting up new regulations, chances are that companies only take action when the
authorities raise the alarm. However, authorities cannot fully check compliance with the
rules. As a result, risks increase.
For the coming years emphasis is put on the responsibility of residents and entrepreneurs
for safety in their houses and companies. We offer them clear information on how to
prevent incidents. Furthermore, we raise awareness of possible consequences of fires
and environment damaging situations lasting for longer periods. In order to get more
attention for fire prevention, the fire brigade will start a pilot project called the
'neighbourhood fire brigade'.
Companies have their own responsibility when protecting the safety of their environment
against the risks of their activities. We want Rotterdammers to have a better insight into the
safety of companies. To better inform residents more data will be published in the coming
years. We started by publishing reports of incidents in the port: the so-called CIN reports.
These reports can be found on www.rijnmondveilig.nl. The Port of Rotterdam Authority has
started with a port safety index. In the city we examine whether the inspection results for fire
safety can be made public. For instance for locations where people sleep or where people
stay who cannot cope independently, such as day nurseries and schools. By doing so, we
encourage citizens to query themselves about unsafe situations. Companies that are taking
the action can make this public.
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www.rijnmondveilig.nl
At the time of an incident, reliable information is often hard to find in the jumble of
media coverage. The site www.rijnmondveilig.nl contains and updates all actual
information about the fire brigade, police, ambulance services, 112 emergency room
and municipality. All necessary information on incidents, calamities and crises is
available 24/7.
www.rijnmondveilig.nl contains the latest information and updates on large and small
incidents. This could be a fire in a neighbourhood, asbestos pollution, power outage or
a major traffic accident. Besides incidents, the website contains general information
about the safety in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area.
In case of major incidents or calamities with a direct threat to an area,
www.rijnmondveilig.nl alerts all those who have registered. This could be the case for
a poisonous cloud, an impending flooding or contamination to drinking water. The alerts
contain instructions given by emergency services, for instance 'close all doors and
windows' or 'don't drink tap water'.
Community fire brigade
Comparable to the community police officer, Rotterdam now has a community firefighter.
A pilot project has started in the IJsselmonde district, where a fireman takes on the part
of community firefighter. In the past year, the fire brigade has executed safety checks in
homes. Residents and entrepreneurs appreciated the fact that the firebrigade collaborated with them in the neighbourhood and they valued tips and suggestions. In the coming
years we will give even more attention to prevention in order to make people aware of
fire safety issues. This helps to prevent dangerous situations. And fewer fires means less
material as well as emotional damage.
• Details about fire safety of companies will be published.
• More attention is directed to prevention. Residents and entrepreneurs will be informed
about how to contribute to fire safety.
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11 Road safety
Road safety is an issue that requires attention in the coming years. Anti-social
and reckless driving behaviour are a nuisance and endanger other road users.
Traffic incidents involving casualties, have a great impact on those directly affected. This has a major impact on the feeling of safety of the citizens of Rotterdam.
The core of our approach:
• Together with residents and business owners, police, Stadsregio (City Region),
Public Prosecution Service, VRR (Security Region Rotterdam-Rijnmond), knowledge
institutions and other civil society organizations, we are working to strengthen the
objective and subjective road safety;
• We use "outside" knowledge to further improve road safety. Every two years the
Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid 4 performs an
independent investigation into the level of road safety in the city of Rotterdam.
• The base is an integrated approach in which physical infrastructure, enforcement and
education are the three pillars. The next four years we will build on these three pillars
and intensify our approach;
• We link road safety to Buur t Bestuur t and make it a part of the area plans. Residents
can appoint road safety as a priority within Buur t Bestuur t. They indicate which unsafe
traffic situations they want to address. Stadsontwikkeling (Urban Development),
Stadsbeheer, the neighbourhood networker and police look into (unsafe) traffic
situations together with residents. We agree on action, based on a joint analysis.
Often this joint analysis is a mix of physical interventions, prevention activities and
enforcement by police and/or Stadsbeheer. Residents themselves also contribute to
the solution by thinking along or by taking certain actions;
• Enforcement of unwanted traffic behavior, including addressing "verkeershufters“ (road
rage), is part of the integrated approach. The approach implies the police to be alert
to unwanted traffic behavior. If possible police officers act immediately when detecting
anti-social and reckless driving behavior. On the basis of shared analyzes, including
signals from residents, we agree on enforcement efforts of the police (locations, times
and nature of traffic actions). On average the police performs a targeted traffic action
once a week in the region. The agreements with the police and Public Prosecution
Service on enforcement of road safety will be renewed for the period from 2015 as part
of the new regional police policyplan (2015 t/m 2018).
4) Scientific Research Foundation for Road Safety
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The three pillars:
• Physical Infrastructure: the first step to a safe situation is an infrastructure that stimulates required behavior. Road safety gets much attention when improving the outdoor
space or when making redevelopment plans. Improvements to infrastructure such as
crossing facilities, black spots, intervention approach and service network are examples;
• Enforcement: when infrastructure is safely arranged, but behavioral actions do not
achieve the desired effect, we will enforce. This enforcement takes place through efforts
of the team and traffic enforcement in the district;
• Education: to encourage people to behave in a proper way in traffic, we regularly make
road users aware of the traffic rules. Examples include projects aimed at improving
behavior; local and national campaigns and information displays along the way.
Neighbourhood-oriented approach
PPolice and City Wardens use a neighbourhood-oriented approach to road safety.
In this approach they use signals from residents, priorities suggested by Buur t
Bestuur t, inspections with residents, area scans and wijkprofiel. They organize
specific actions around schools: draw attention to speeding, the use of bike lights,
safety at pedestrian crossings and road works, nuisance of scooters and mopeds,
speeding in residential areas and illegal street racing. Based on a joint analysis we
agree on the deployment of specific traffic actions. These are often a mix of physical
interventions, prevention activities and enforcement actions by the police and/or
Stadsbeheer. Residents also contribute to the solution by thinking along or taking
certain actions.
Black Spots
The most dangerous traffic junctions in Rotterdam are called "black spots". These are
intersections or road sections where six or more accidents with injury took place within
three years. Every year we tackle ten black spots. The list of black spots is dynamic.
If a lot of accidents happen at a particular location, we add the location to the black
spot list. Every year we decide which locations we tackle. We determine this choice
by the degree of urgency, any scheduled works on or around the location and the
available budget.
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Focus different target groups
We organize projects that focus on improving traffic behaviour. Within these projects,
we focus especially on the four risk groups, that are most involved in traffic accidents:
older road users, young novice drivers, high school students and cyclists. For each of
these target groups there are specific programmes such as refresher courses for older
motorists, campaigns on the dangers of drinking and driving during festivals, debates
on desirable traffic behaviour in high schools, or bicycle training at primary schools or
at nursing homes. We collaborate with organizations that specialize in road safety and
have a broad reach among these target groups.
• We link road safety to Buurt Bestuurt. The citizens of Rotterdam themselves contribute to
road safety.
• With our cooperating partners we look into innovations and smart ways of working together.
• We use the knowledge of the Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid to
further improve road safety.
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12 Finances and risks
An annual budget of about 27 million euro is available for the safety strategy for
the duration of the programme #Veilig010.
The safety strategy in the programme applies in case of unchanged circumstances and
stationary budgets. At this moment three risks can be named that threaten unchanged
circumstances and stationary budgets:
1. Cutbacks in justice budgets
The national government has cut on justice budgets. We keep an eye on this
development because it may have consequences for legal action and punishment of
criminals or those causing nuisance.
2. Less money for upkeep of houses
Home-owners, housing cooperations and the municipality spend less money on
maintenance. This means a higher risk of degeneration of properties. This in turn
affects the street scene and how people experience their neighbourhoods. This
development keeps our attention.
3. Transfer of national tasks to municipalities
The municipality gets a number of new tasks and responsibilities previously carried out
by others. Such tasks include decentralisation of youth care, parts of the Exceptional
Medical Expenses Act (AWBZ) and the Participation Act. This is an opportunity to
reorganising youth, care and labour. On the other hand we receive less budget than the
national government previously had available for these tasks. Here too, we stay alert
for any consequences for safety. If needed, policy adjustments will be made.
As of March 20, 2014 the submunicipalities cease to exist. However, the submunicipalities
have their own budgets for safety. These budgets will be incorporated in the municipal
budget. In addition, several organisations contribute to the safety approach in Rotterdam.
They have their own budgets.
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2014-2018 Safety Programme
#Veilig010