Amsterdam and Tilburg top list for antisocial behaviour

Dutch police handed out 344,000 fines last year for antisocial behaviour, with Amsterdam and Tilburg topping the list, RTL Nieuws reported.

Eight of the most common bugbears included driving without a licence, noise nuisance, dumping waste in the street and not cleaning up dog poop.

Figures from fine collection service CJIB showed Amsterdammers were given 75 fines per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Tilburg with 70. In most other towns and cities, just 10 fines per 1,000 inhabitants were handed out. Tubbergen in Twente was the most law abiding with just 0.7 fines per 1,000 inhabitants.

The difference, police told the broadcaster, is a result of different local priorities regarding the use of police resources.

Enschedé showed the biggest increase in fines for antisocial behaviour compared to last year. The number of fines more than tripled, from 2,124 in 2020 to 7,614 in 2021, particularly for motorists and motorbike riders who broke city centre traffic bans.

Of the fines for antisocial behaviour in traffic, 93,000 went to people who parked illegally while the number of drivers caught without a licence rose to 22,000, the highest for a decade.

Fines for noise nuisance rose fivefold in 2021, from 934 to 4,696, with most fines doled out in student towns.