In twelve municipalities it is not allowed to light fireworks during this New Year’s Eve. There are fireworks-free zones in other places. Will the police write tickets if the fireworks are set off? This is unlikely, police chief Peije de Meij told NU.nl: “Execution is not a priority for the police.” The safety of police officers and citizens and public order come first. And the agents have their hands full again this year.
“During the end of the year it’s difficult for the police to follow every bang,” says De Meij, who coordinates the end of the year with the police.
“Because there are all kinds of accidents and problems in so many places where the police have to be, you don’t have enough time. You have to be realistic about it,” he continues.
On New Year’s Eve, safety comes first. Both that of the citizens and that of the agents themselves. Subsequently, the police will focus on public order. “Enforcement of fireworks violations is a minor offense on such an evening. It therefore has a lower priority,” explains De Meij.
“Different fireworks rules provide a patchwork”
After two New Years with nationwide fireworks bans due to the coronavirus, each municipality has its own fireworks rules for this New Year’s Eve.
There is a general ban on fireworks in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schiedam, Haarlem, Bloemendaal, Heemstede, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, Heumen, Mook en Middelaar, Soest and Utrechtse Heuvelrug. And in other places there are zones without fireworks.
“This creates a great patchwork,” says De Meij. “It becomes very unclear to the agents.”
As for De Meij, the same rules will apply everywhere in the Netherlands. “A complete ban on fireworks can clarify this.”
Police take account of ‘heavy shift of the year’
Certainly if it “gets out of hand” again, the police will “strongly support” a blanket ban on fireworks. It sounds a bit weak, but according to De Meij this is how it works in the Netherlands. “The police can want anything, but in the end it’s up to the politicians to make the choices.”
A blanket ban on fireworks would provide clarity for officers, but the question is whether it will be enforceable.
After two years of New Year’s Eve with corona restrictions, De Meij is saving his heart for tonight. “We’re looking at a fierce turn of the year,” she says. “The fireworks thrown at rescuers are getting heavier. The risk is increasing.”
According to him, there are “on average” enough cops on the street during the end of the year.
De Meij expresses the hope that people won’t regard New Year’s as a party without rules for a while. “Because if everyone doesn’t adhere to anything, it’s cleaning with the faucet running for the police.”
