Armed Violence down in A'dam Oost

Amsterdam Oost should be taken off the list of security risk areas by the city council's General Affairs Committee, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said. So far in 2013, violent crimes involving weapons in Oost has dropped by 29 percent compared to the same period a year ago. In a letter the mayor wrote to committee members, van der Laan said the average number of these types of crimes has fallen below the threshold mandating the "risk" designation. The threshold is based on hectares of land, and is not calculted per capita, according to Het Parool. There have been 198 crimes reported this year in Amsterdam Oost where a weapon was used by the offender, down from 278 in 2012.