Meter press agency
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In cooperation with
RTV North
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NOS News•today, 17:59
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As of today, there is a ban on gatherings in part of the city center of Groningen. Mayor Schuiling complies with that ban a shooting in town two weeks ago, killing a 50-year-old man.
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It applies in the area between Gedempte Zuiderdiep, Schoolholm, Akerkhof, Vismarkt and Pelsterstraat, which is also known as the Yellow Carpet. The gathering ban will remain in force for a year, reports RTV North.
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It is mainly established because in recent months drug trafficking, fights and yelling, noise pollution, intimidation and assault have clearly increased in the area. The deadly shooting was also in the middle of the Gele Loper, in the Haddingestraat.
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Local residents also indicated that it is often restless there and that there is regular nuisance from drug dealers. Schuiling then announced that there would be a ban on gatherings and that the police and boas would conduct structural checks on the street. Camera surveillance has also been in place for some time in some places in the area.
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caught in the act
Tackling nuisance causes has so far been very difficult, Schuiling wrote in a letter to the city council. “We see dealers, who are usually in a strategic spot like a street corner, disappear when the police come by,” he said.
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“They warn each other when the police are in the area. It is difficult for the police to catch street dealers in the act and to arrest them in possession of drugs.”
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After the shooting, café d’Olle Grieze in Haddingestraat was closed for at least three months. The fight that eventually led to the shooting started at that cafe. The municipality told RTV Noord that the pub often plays a role at drug deals.
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