More young people are being sent to crime prevention centers for fireworks offenses

Around 950 young people were sent to the youth crime prevention organization Halt as a result of firework-related offenses in 2023. This is an increase of 30 percent compared to the year before when 730 young people were sent there, an analysis from ANP using numbers provided by Statistics Netherlands showed.

A spokesperson of Halt said that the increase is connected to the coronavirus pandemic. “More young people stayed inside during the pandemic, partly due to the curfew. This meant that the number of referrals to Halt was lower. These numbers are comparable to the period before the pandemic.” Stitching Halt tries to get young people who have shown criminal behavior back on the right path.

In the year before the pandemic outbreak, 2019, 1,200 young people were referred to Halt for firework-related offenses. In relation to the total number of young people referred to Halt, the percentage of young people referred for fireworks violations in 2023 was higher than before the pandemic. Last year, it was 9 percent, while it was almost 8 percent in 2019.

There has been a downward trend of young people being referred to Halt for fireworks offenses since 2013. Around 1,970 were sent to Halt that year for firework-related offenses. The Halt spokesperson explained that in general, they are seeing a decrease in the number of young people being referred to Halt.

The police, who refer young people to Halt, could not provide an explanation for the figures at short notice.