Explosive figures and approach
The number of attacks involving explosives is increasing rapidly. In the first nine months of this year, the police registered 768 incidents. Last year there were 497 explosions in the same period. In the whole of 2023 there were 42 explosions in the province of Utrecht, in September this year the count was already at 53.
The idea that most attacks involve a conflict in the criminal environment is now outdated. “We estimate that more than half of the incidents have no link with crime. It seems to be becoming a social trend to settle disputes with an attack,” says Jos van der Stap, High Impact Crime program manager at the police. Police deployment led to almost 500 arrests of attackers over the past 2.5 years.
The Strategic Offensive Against Explosions (SOTE) must put an end to the explosion trend. Minister David van Weel recently appointed Rotterdam mayor Carola Schouten as chairman. According to the Telegraaf, consideration is being given to whether F4 fireworks can be classified as a weapon under the Weapons and Ammunition Act, so that much heavier penalties and investigation methods are possible.