Ruth Prins on the mayor of Haarlem in hiding
Jos Wienen, the mayor of Haarlem is in hiding because of threats from an unknown source. Researcher Ruth Prins talked about this in the tv-programme ‘Na het nieuws’.
In the Dutch television programme Prins said that mayors are more often getting police tasks, which brings them more in conflict with criminals. ‘You can see the trend that more and more problems are considered to be local security problems. And to make sure that the mayor can really do something about that, a large amount of new powers have been incorporated in legislation.’ As examples Prins mentioned a.o. preventive body searches, camera surveillance, restraining orders and compulsory parent support.
Prins does much research into the role of mayors in security matters. Do you want to know more? Read an extensive interview here.