Originally, I am a Heerlen native. I was born and raised there, and although I no longer live there, Heerlen will always be a bit of the center of the world for me. It is a city you have to know in order to appreciate it. To outsiders, it is primarily a city known for (drug) crime. For years Heerlen has been high on national top-10 crime lists. It can therefore be said that Heerlen is one of the most criminal cities in the Netherlands. As a criminal lawyer, I undoubtedly view this differently than the average citizen, because crime is how I make my living.
As a criminal lawyer, I also regularly visit arrested clients who are temporarily detained at the police station in Heerlen. A beautiful building in the center of the city from which all crime is handled. A building where Heerlen citizens who have been victims of crime can walk in to report what has happened to them. The Heerlen police station is the headquarters for the entire Parkstad region.
To my great surprise, new opening hours have been in effect at this headquarters since April 3 (if it were April 1, everyone would think it was a joke). Above you can see an overview of the bizarre times when you can walk in. So just walking in is no longer possible from that moment on.
Today, if you are robbed of your purse after 8 p.m. on a Monday night (or any other weekday) you are in trouble. If that purse contained your phone, it is already effectively impossible to call "your friend and helper." But you are also no longer welcome at that time to come and tell your story at the police station. There the door simply remains closed until the next day at 1 p.m. If you can still remember it by then, you may be able to walk in and pass on a description of the perpetrator.
It cannot be other than that this is an austerity measure. But to me it is an incomprehensible one. At the front desk of a police station there should simply be someone to speak to citizens in need and to provide information. My clients will usually not complain that this is not always the case, but it certainly will not contribute to a sense of security in one of the most criminal cities in the Netherlands either.
