Investigation into rioting, police brutality claims during New Year's in Zuid-Holland town

There will be an investigation into the events during the alleged New Year's Eve riots in 's-Gravendeel, Zuid-Holland during New Year's Eve. The riot police (ME) intervened that night after other officers were trapped by a group of about thirty young people. The officers said they were threatened with branches and pelted with fireworks. Some of those injured by police said they were wrongly targeted by authorities.

After the officers managed to retreat, the riot police arrived to disperse the group. One officer suffered minor injuries. Three men in their early twenties from 's-Gravendeel were arrested. Two of them will be detained for at least two weeks. The investigation is still ongoing, the Public Prosecution Service said.

The group that confronted the police made sure that police vehicles could not drive away from the group because the youths had put caltrops in front of the cars. Sometimes called a crow's foot, the pieces of metal are arranged with four metal spikes and are intended to puncture tires when driven over them. The group threw fireworks at the trapped officers and someone threatened them with a prohibited type of baton, the police reported on January 1.

A number of residents of 's-Gravendeel who were injured during the intervention of the ME complain about the actions of the ME in a report produced by broadcaster Rijnmond. According to them, the riot police were in the wrong, and they attacked people who were not among the rioters. They therefore wrongly fell victim to police violence.

According to the victims, the riot police intervened out of the blue and there had been a friendly atmosphere on the street. Several people said they were severely beaten. They did not know why the ME was present in the village. A witness told the broadcaster that three riot police officers were seen striking a woman simultaneously.

The police are calling on people who had nothing to do with the disturbances, but who ended up in the riot police's charges to contact them, especially if they were injured. "If an officer has used violence, he or she must always justify it. The violence used is always examined to determine whether this was justified," the police said.