Street gangs in Rotterdam are getting bigger and bolder, the port is the main entry port of cocaine in Europe so the local gangs are used to get the stuff out of the port.


The Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service has hired an expert from the United States to help curb youth involvement in the spate of explosives attacks. In the night from Friday to Saturday there was another explosion in Rotterdam, this time on the Goudse Rijweg in Rotterdam East.

According to the police, there was an explosion around 00.30. The damage was not too bad, only a window was damaged and there were no injuries. Police believe the explosion was caused by heavy fireworks. Nothing is known about the perpetrator or perpetrators.

The perpetrators of the dozens of explosions in Rotterdam last year are usually underage boys. The Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam says in the Algemeen Dagblad that it wants to prevent young people from becoming involved in this type of violence and sliding into serious crime.

Criminologist David M. Kennedy has devised a successful approach for this in the American city of Boston. His method has been used in many other cities, including the Swedish city of Malmö, with positive results.

In Malmö, there was a particular problem with shootings by underage youths. There, the number of shootings decreased by about half as a result of the approach, just as in the other cities where the method has been used.

Heavier punishment is not part of the method.