AMSTERDAM: FACTS AND FIGURES
A great many people with different life styles live together in the city of Amsterdam. People who have to share the space with thousands of tourists all year round. The city offers all the facilities one might expect to find in a capital. Plants and commercial offices, shops, universities, schools, theatres, hotels and pubs. A city like this can only function properly if there are rules and regulations everyone obeys, and law and order are enforced. Only then is it possible to preserve the climate of tolerance which has prevailed in Amsterdam for centuries. Each person's freedom is restricted by the freedom of the others. Freedom of expression also means freedom to demonstrate. But demonstrating to express feelings and opinions should not result in blocking traffic or the entrances to buildings. Maintaining law and order and guaranteeing a safe society is one of the government's main tasks. Government, police and legal authorities each play their own specific role in this process. City officials are aware that social problems require social solutions. At a number of locations in the city, crime prevention projects have been developed, with special attention to and opportunities for the target groups and, if necessary, corrective action.
The Police
Since 1993, the municipal police departments of Amsterdam and Amstelveen and the federal police departments of Aalsmeer, Diemen, Ouder-Amstel and Uithoorn have together constituted the Amsterdam-Amstelland police region. The Mayor of Amsterdam is in charge of the Police Department (responsible for general supervision, organization and management) and the Police Commissioner of Amsterdam is the Chief of Police. The mayors of the various municipalities are each responsible for preserving law and order within their own municipality, and together they make up the Regional Board. In the coming years, the size of the police force is expected to grow from 3,500 in 1993 to nearly 5,000 in 1996. In effect, there are two people in charge of the police: the Mayor and the Public Prosecutor. The Mayor is responsible for the preservation of law and order; the Public Prosecutor for investigating penal offences. Moreover, the Public Prosecutor is responsible for the prosecution of acts punishable by law and the supervision of the investigations leading to arrests. He does so under the authority of the Minister of Justice. In order to keep the policies well co-ordinated, the Mayor, the Public Prosecutor and the Police Commissioner consult each other regularly. Their talks have become known as Triangle Consultations. The City Council Committee for General Administrative and Judicial Affairs regularly discusses police policy with the Mayor and the Police Commissioner. In addition to routine work, the police presently focuses primarily on dealing with:
a. the international large-scale trade in drugs; b. large-scale fraud; c. corruption;
The need for an independent agency to deal with complaints about the conduct of the police force led to the foundation of the Police Conduct Complaints Commission in 1986. In 1994, the Commission received 378 complaints, a third of which are generally unfounded. In addition to the Complaints Commission, a Police Cell Supervisory Committee has also been appointed. This Committee monitors how the Amsterdam police treat the people they arrest and, if necessary, submits recommendations for the improvement of the situation.
Prostitution
Prostitution as a profession is not prohibited in the Netherlands. Yet it is prohibited by law (Section 250bis of the Penal Code) to run a prostitution business, e.g. a window brothel, private bordello or club. In practice, however, a policy of 'tolerance' has been pursued with regard to prostitution businesses, also in Amsterdam and particularly in the vicinity of the Burgwallen (red light district) and the city district called De Pijp. The present Amsterdam policy, in effect since the early eighties, does not permit an increase in the number of window brothels. Existing prostitution enterprises are tolerated, provided they do not cause any public nuisance and obey the law. For example, minors (girls and boys) are not allowed to work as prostitutes. On 22 March 1995, the City Council decided to introduce the 'Tolerance Decree' for prostitution businesses. As from 1 January 1996, a 'Tolerance Licence' will be obligatory. In connection with the spread of venereal diseases, every effort is being made to promote medical guidance for prostitutes, among others through the supply of information on sexually transmitted diseases and access to low-threshold facilities such as outpatient clinics. In addition, there are general municipal regulations regarding such matters as fire safety, noise pollution and hygiene which prostitution businesses have to adhere to. These stipulations are included in the 'Suitability Certificate' which is also obligatory as from 1 January 1996.
Street Prostitution
On 13 December 1994, the City Council reached an agreement on the temporary establishment of a streetwalking district (until no later than 1 January 1996) at a designated area on the Oostelijke Handelskade. Due to a temporary amendment of the implementing order of the General Local Ordinance (APV in Dutch), Section 87, third paragraph and Section 88, first paragraph, street prostitution is permitted in the indicated area between 21.00 hours in the evening and 06.00 hours in the morning. In order to prevent street prostitution in other parts of the city, streetwalking is prohibited outside this area. On 29 June 1995, the City Council resolved to establish a definitive location on the Theemsweg. This, too, required an amendment of the implementing order of the APV, as a result of which it will be permitted to engage in street prostitution in the indicated area between 21.00 hours in the evening and 06.00 hours in the morning. Some of the main considerations for the establishment of a streetwalking district are:
The area on the Theemsweg will be arranged in such a way that:
The streetwalking district will also comprise a 'sitting-room project' where, between 21.00 hours in the evening and 06.00 hours in the morning (the hours during which streetwalking is permitted), prostitutes can take a rest and medical and social care will be available in a modest form.
Drugs
Ever since the seventies, drug use in Amsterdam has also led to problems related to law and order. In Amsterdam there are approximately 6,000 persons who use heroin or cocaine. A group of some 1,000 hard drug users cause problems on the street. They rarely have a permanent address and generally commit theft and robbery to get their daily dose of drugs. In the inner city, the law and order policy is mainly focused on this group: surveillance, observation, arrests and combating concentrations of users. If criminal users have come into contact with the police four times within a twelve-month period, they are given the choice of either serving the entire sentence for their crimes or undergoing a withdrawal programme. If hard drug users discontinue the treatment programme before its completion, they still have to serve the full prison sentence. One of the instruments the police have to preserve law and order in parts of the old city centre and in Amsterdam Southeast is the so-called 'stay-out order'. The Mayor can forbid drug addicts and drug dealers who disturb the peace in the 'emergency' area from entering the vicinity for a period ranging from eight hours to fourteen days.
Coffee shops
In the Netherlands, no special efforts are made to detect the possession or sale of less than 30 grams of soft drugs, meaning that these acts are generally tolerated. In many Dutch cities, among which Amsterdam, these small quantities are sold at so-called coffee shops. As long as they adhere to the 'tolerance rules' and do not cause a public nuisance, no action is taken against these coffee shops. For this purpose, a number of guidelines were introduced in 1987. The guidelines, known as the G-AHOJ Guidelines, were reconfirmed in 1994 and stand for: G: no transactions involving large quantities (other than suitable for own use, i.e. 30 grams); A: no advertising; H: no hard drugs; O: no public nuisance; J: no sale to minors (persons under 18 years of age). If coffee shops (or other locales) do not adhere to these rules, for example because they sell hard drugs or firearms have been seen there or they disturb the neighbourhood's peace, the Mayor can order the premises closed down. This is indeed something that happens regularly. July 1995