On Sunday night, armoured police officers were called in to respond to riots and fires on the streets of the Groningen neighbourhood of Paddepoel.
Translation by Traci White
According to the Groninger Internet Courant, there were multiple arrests over the weekend. There have been a number of incidents in Paddepoel, which is in the west of the city just south of Zernike, in recent days. On Saturday, people threw fireworks at first responders and a police car was damaged. There were several fires in the area on Sunday.
Around 11 p.m. on Sunday, the police dispatched 15 patrol cars and several armoured police vehicles to the area. Several fire engines were also on call and some officers were accompanied by police dogs. A number of officers wore bullet proof vests.
The police arrested 15 people in total and the detainees will be processed over the course of the day on Monday. The police have announced that despite the unrest in Paddepoel, the city of Groningen will not be subject to any additional security measures on New Year’s Eve. The police say that enough officers will be on patrol and that they can scale up their response on site if that is deemed necessary
