Police: No signs of massive unrest during upcoming New Year's Eve

The police in the Netherlands are preparing for a New Year's Eve similar to others in the past, according to Commander Paul Entken, who is in charge of the national New Year's response. There are currently no signs of major unrest, or groups deliberately trying to target violence against the police, he said.

This coming New Year's Eve is expected to be the last in which consumers are allowed to set off fireworks. "We fully realize that this year can be a special year, but we do not see many elements that are especially different from other years."

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, approved a national fireworks ban in April, and the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, also voted in favor of the ban in July. The new restriction is supposed to take effect on at the turn of the New Year at the end of 2026.

This currently remains uncertain as the Cabinet collapsed in July, and has been in a caretaker status ever since. It is not yet known whether the national ban will actually go ahead. "Next New Year's Eve will be more exciting than this one," Entken expects.

The police "advocated quite forcefully" in recent years for the implementation of a fireworks ban, according to Ko Minderhoud, who coordinates the police department's national approach to fireworks policy. "For years, we've seen New Year's Eve characterized by a certain atmosphere of lawlessness and impunity, with fireworks playing a major role in the safety of emergency responders."

Although an ordinary New Year's Eve is expected, police have noticed a great deal of fireworks in circulation this year and expect to see the consequences due to high volumes of legal and illegal fireworks sales. "The large quantities currently present will undoubtedly lead to more injuries, more fires, and the use of more first responders," Minderhoud believes.

New Year's Eve is traditionally the busiest night for police and other emergency services offices. The emergency dispatch centers have 250 lines available for 112 calls, with 1,000 calls expected every fifteen minutes. The busiest time is between 11:30 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The police expect mobile riot police and tactical teams to be deployed in various locations again this year. Over the weekend, riot police were active in Amsterdam's Floradorp neighborhood, where unrest was caused by the cancellation of traditional bonfires.

During the upcoming New Year's Eve, the riot police will be trialing two new weapons: a larger canister of pepper spray and a chemical agent that induces eye irritation which can be mixed with water and disbursed by a water canister. Members of the riot police are also equipped with improved hearing protection this year. Several police officers handling various duties on New Year's Eve are affected by hearing damage every year as a result of fireworks exploding near them.