It seemed Venlo could no longer cope with the problems related to drug tourism.

Summary I

SUMMARY

A s a town that is situated at the border of The Netherlands, Venlo has to deal with a considerable amount of drug tourism. In the course of the nineties of the previous century, it became apparent that the means that were used to tackle this problem were no longer sufficient.

It seemed Venlo could no longer cope with the problems related to drug tourism.

In order to tackle the drug problems in Venlo, a three-track policy named Hektor has been developed. This policy is aimed at enforcement, real estate and policies concerning coffee shops. Regarding enforcement, the following activities are concerned: criminal enforcement (in public spaces), administrative enforcement (tracking and closing non-tolerated points of sale), and tackling the problem of regional organized crime. Regarding real estate, the activities are aimed at the recruitment, redesigning, redevelopment and the development of a perception on reorganizing the problem areas. The main activity regarding the track coffee shop is the expansion of the currently tolerated situation (five coffee shops) with two new coffee shops in the periphery of Venlo, albeit on an experimental basis.

Evaluation

On behalf of the municipality of Venlo and the WODC of the Department of Justice, I

, Bureau for Research and Consultancy, has performed an evaluation of Hektor. The final evaluation of Hektor consists of three measurements of the efforts and results of the project, as well as a process evaluation of the implementation and execution of the project. In order to perform the measurements, the same indicators have consistently been used and therefore the measurements have the nature of a monitor. For the process evaluation, special attention has been paid to the implementation of the intended actions and the course of the processes in this project. Moreover, an examination is included of the policy presumptions that form the basis of Hektor.

Policy presumptions

The policy presumptions of the program Hektor are as follows. For a considerable amount of time, Venlo has been dealing with problems involving drugs. In order to tackle these problems, several efforts as part of the three-track policy Hektor should be performed. These efforts should bring about some imperative behavioural changes on both the supply and the demand sides of the soft drugs market. On the one hand, the results should lead to a better quality of life and a safer city centre, while on the other hand it should lead to an improvement of the economic position of the municipality. Both results contribute to the positive image of Venlo.

Within the policy presumptions some preconditions are of interest. Furthermore, there are some exogenous factors that can have a direct or indirect influence on the employed intention.

Track 1. Enforcement

The deployment and co-operation within the track of enforcement have largely been realized as planned. However, the approach was less integral than intended and the co-operation and exchange of information with the other tracks of Hektor was at times dissatisfactory. The activities between 2001 and 2004 have led to a decrease in drug houses, arrests for drug related nuisance, and incidents involving soft drugs. These decreases are in line with the presumptions of Hektor. The general tendency is that the decrease was mainly realized between 2001 and 2003, as 2004 showed slight increases.

Track 2. Real estate

Within the track of real estate there were some bottlenecks as a result of which the execution

was delayed. However, the intended efforts were largely realized. Most likely, the design phase

will be rounded off in the first half of 2005 with a neighbourhood development plan. This plan

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- Hektor in Venlo: eindevaluatie will form the basis of further realization of the land development and zoning plan. According to

those involved, intensive enforcement of Hektor is required in order to bring about the desired changes.

Track 3. Policy regarding coffee shops

As for the policy regarding coffee shops, two coffee shops have moved from the inner city to the periphery, instead of the proposed expansion rather than mere relocation of the existing coffee shops. This is a considerable change of the original project program. For now, the results of the relocation turn out to be positive, especially in the city centre but the consequences of the relocation will be evaluated separately.

Results

Although the intended results have largely been achieved, there are also still some ways in which the intended improvements have not (yet) been realised. A positive improvement is that there are less drug houses, drug dealers, drug runners and drug buyers, while there are more people out on the streets. Moreover, there are less incidents and arrests. It seems that the coffee shops that moved keep drug buyers, drug incidents and traffic away from the inner city.

Entrepreneurs experience less drug related nuisance, while the residents mainly experience drug related nuisance less frequently. In addition, more companies have settled in the area.

Concluding remarks

The ambition with which Venlo started Hektor in 2001 can be summarized in seven targets:

contending drug related nuisance on the streets; contending (heavy) crime; (inter)national co- operation; closing down illegal points of sale; reducing feelings of unsafety; preventing the problems will spread to adjacent residential areas; reconquering public space.

As for most targets, significant improvements have been realized. In particular, Hektor has proven successful when it comes to contending nuisance on the streets involving drugs. An increasing number of residents and visitors have come to the inner city again, while there is a strong decrease in the amount of drug runners and drug houses. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs feel much safer. This is not the case yet with the residents.

The problem has hardly spread to adjacent residential areas of Venlo. Some surrounding municipalities have pointed out they experience an increase in drug related problems. However, there are no indications this is the result of the approach taken by Venlo.

In the border town consultations, which were initiated by Venlo, several municipalities participate that also deal with considerable problems involving soft drugs. Projects such as

‘Courage’ in Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom and ‘Hartslag’ in Heerlen have all been able to benefit of Hektor.

Venlo has sought both national and international co-operation. Venlo frequently consults both

German and Turkish authorities and enforcement bodies on several levels. Moreover, the

municipality co-operates in tracing researches that lead abroad. To those involved, adequately

contending heavy and international (drug related) crime, is a major bottleneck when it comes to

tackling drug problems. Organized drug trade and production of soft drugs truly are extensive

problems. Therefore, an effective approach cannot only take place on behalf of the police of the

region Limburg Noord.