The cause of the disturbances at the fair in Emmeloord is a fight between a fair employee and a visitor to the fair. This is evident from a letter that Mayor Roger de Groot sent to the Noordoostpolder municipal council. One person was arrested and several people were fined following the disturbances at the fair in Emmeloord.
In the letter, the mayor provides a detailed description of last week’s events at the fair. After things got out of hand twice, the mayor appears to have had an emergency ordinance drawn up. This has not been deployed, by the way. Security has also been scaled up.
The letter also shows that six reports of assault and two reports of vandalism were made.
Conflict starts Wednesday
A reconstruction based on the new information: The conflict starts on Wednesday, with a fight between a fairground employee and a visitor. The mayor cannot say anything about the cause of that argument. According to him, several stories are circulating, none of which have been confirmed.
A day later, disturbances occur. Earlier, the police spoke about an argument between two groups of young people. Now it turns out to be a group of young people who come to seek redress from the fairground worker. A confrontation arises between the young people and employees of the fair.
The police say that the officers present initially managed to calm the argument between the group and the employee. That turns out to be short-lived, because a large group of young people visit the fair again that Thursday. The police describe the atmosphere as ‘grim’.
Support from four places
In order to end these ‘disorders’, the police are forced to ask for support from surrounding units, according to the municipality. They come from Lelystad, Almere, Lemmer and Harderwijk.
When additional police officers from other units arrived in Emmeloord, the group dispersed. A number of rioters destroyed fairground items. It is unclear what the damage is and whether the young people will have to pay for it. According to the police, peace then returned.
Evaluation on Friday
After the disturbances, the mayor will meet with the police and officials on Friday morning to discuss how a recurrence could be prevented.
As a result, Mayor De Groot decides to close the fair earlier that evening. This was partly done because it was only possible to deploy additional officers to a limited extent.
That morning there is also a meeting with the organizers of the fair. The municipality has agreed that it will also scale up in the field of security. Instead of two security guards, four are deployed. Additional boas are also deployed.
In addition, it is agreed that the fairground staff will leave the site after the closing time of 8:00 PM. The aim of the municipality is to ensure that the groups no longer confront each other.
Things go wrong again
At first things seemed to go well that Friday evening. But despite the mayor’s hope that disturbances will not occur, it does happen. At 10 p.m. a group of 30 young people will go to the fair again. Security guards at the fair previously spoke to Omroep Flevoland about 110 young people.
There, another confrontation arises between the young people and fairground employees who, despite the agreement, stayed around the fairground after closing time. The municipality writes that fireworks and stones were thrown. The local police eventually expelled the young people from the area surrounding the fair.
Boas talking to staff
In the meantime, boas are focusing on the fairground staff. They ask the staff to leave the event site and go to the overnight accommodation. According to the municipality, peace will then return.
One person was arrested that night. A number of people were also fined that Friday evening. It is not known how many there are. This is because the fines were issued by different police units. This means that there is not yet a complete picture.
Evaluation again on Saturday
The measures will then be evaluated again on Saturday morning and tightened. An emergency ordinance is being prepared. This can be used to prevent incidents.
The regulation would apply to the center of Emmeloord and the event area and could help the police and supervisors to take more targeted action against disturbances.
One of the reasons for preparing the regulation is that it is May 4, or Remembrance Day. According to the municipality, unrest could disrupt activities surrounding the commemoration.
There is also contact again with the organization of the fair and with the chairman of the trade association of fair operators. This is done to coordinate the measures.
Visit at home
On Saturday afternoon, the police and boas then visit ten young people at home. Discussions were held there in the presence of the parents. The youth have been told to stop participating in the disturbances. The aim of the conversations was to let young people know that they are in the picture and also to involve parents in their child’s behavior.
The police and boas have also warned the young people that an ‘administrative measure’ may be taken in the event of a recurrence. This could, for example, be an area ban.
That Saturday evening the police again deployed additional boas. There are also four security guards at the fairgrounds. The fairground staff leaves after closing time and there are no disturbances. The prepared emergency ordinance is therefore not used.
Extensive evaluation needed
The mayor is also looking ahead. He indicates that he believes the events surrounding the fair are an incident. To prevent a recurrence in the future, an extensive evaluation of the fair will be conducted. The trade association of fairground owners will also join in. Together with entrepreneurs, we are looking at how the fair can be organized in the future.
The mayor is still investigating what measures he can take against the people who have been determined to have been involved in the disturbances. The Public Prosecution Service and the police are also looking into this. According to the mayor, the home visits would have been a precursor.
The mayor will provide more information about these measures later. De Groot will talk to partners such as welfare organization Carrefour, schools and the police.
Who are the perpetrators?
It remains unclear where the group of young people come from and what their age is. According to the fair’s security guards, these are young people from the area. The police do not want to confirm this because the suspects are minors.
Tags: Omroep Flevoland News Police group rioting young people seek redress fairground worker
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