New laws needed in fight against motorcycle gangs: Police union

New legislation is necessary to address the disturbances caused by motorcycle gangs in Limburg, according to police union ACP. 

This is according to union president Gerrit van de Kamp, NOS reports. He said on NPO Radio 1 that he hopes Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice will work on this.

The union president thinks that more than just extra police officers will be needed to effectively address the motorcycle gang problem. He pointed out that under current Dutch law it is very difficult to ban motorcycle gangs. He thinks that the Netherlands should look to Germany for a structural approach. "The Germans have chosen to do it administratively and make all sorts of demands and conditions. This makes it almost impossible to have motorcycle gangs. The Netherlands should have a good look at that to do the same."

Earlier this month Maastricht mayor Onno Hoes announced a plan to ban separate chapters of motorcycle gangs individually. According to Hoes, the chapters have to banned individually because an overall ban on all motorcycle gangs is not yet possible under current legislation.

Minister Ard van der Steur is in Maastricht on Monday, where he will be discussing the problems with the biker gangs with the police, Public Prosecutor and mayors from the region.