In order to reduce the nuisance and number of property offences for which addicts are responsible, local authorities, the police, the Public Prosecutions Department and care providers will have to seek to influence the behaviour of those concerned in a consistent manner. Anti-social behaviour will be punished consistently and appropriate behaviour will be rewarded wherever possible.
An office to which the general public can report nuisance has been operating in the Westerpark district of Amsterdam for some time and it has produced some positive results. In many cases complaints about nuisance can be solved through mediation. This initiative is being extended to cover the whole of Amsterdam and deserves imitation elsewhere too. We shall encourage the setting- up of such offices in more places, in close cooperation with the police, the municipalities and institutions concerned with the care of addicts. Such offices could also provide support in the collective preparation of legal proceedings and in the provision of evidence. Where action has to be taken, the establishment of these offices will enable it to be done more rapidly and in a more coordinated fashion. It will also make it possible to identify which addicts are responsible for most nuisance.
A great many separate agencies are involved in tackling the problem of nuisance. This requires firm management which can cut through bureaucratic red tape.
The four big cities have proposed setting up a joint task force on nuisance caused by drugs, in cooperation with those government departments most affected, to consist of officials with a broad remit. The latter would be responsible for ensuring that administrative agreements were implemented according to a strict timetable and in a coordinated fashion by all local and central government departments involved. This proposal to pool resources as regards implementation too where necessary is in accordance with the policy on the big cities the government has embarked upon and a start has already been made on putting it into effect.
The task force, which will comprise not only the government departments concerned and the four big cities but in any event also the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), representing the other municipalities, can be combined with the thematic group on safety which has already been set up to assist with policy on the big cities. The task force will be responsible for arranging for the implementation not only of the provisions on safety contained in the agreements with the big cities but also of the policy intentions and agreements on combating nuisance laid down in the present policy document.
The Steering Committee for the Reduction of Nuisance which was set up to implement the policy document on reducing nuisance caused by addicts (Lower House 1993-94, 22684, no. 12) and which is primary engaged in ensuring innovation in the care of addicts, will become part of the above-mentioned thematic group, which will henceforth be known as the Inter-administrative Task Force on Public Safety and the Care of Addicts. The Task Force will establish working parties to carry out specific duties and will be provided with a properly equipped secretariat.