I read this article yesterday.

Don't they need probably cause to stop and frisk you in AMS?
What if they found a few grams of smoke on you, would that have been a problem?



80 arrested in stop-and-search

Police arrested 80 people during a major stop-and-search operation in Amsterdam on Thursday. The operation named 'Twenty-four' involved officers frisking 800 people in the centre of Amsterdam. The homes of some of the people were also searched, resulting in the seizure of weapons, drugs and other goods. Police found a cannabis-growing factory in one house. It is expected more

people will be arrested in the coming days as a result of the operation. Over 100 fines were issued by the police for minor infractions

Let's all hope that at least some the muggers/dealers/pimps of Wallen were amongst the arrested :)

This does concern me! As a regular indebted visitor of Amsterdam I am concerned by this post.

There were 800 people searched, 80 arrested right.

I would like to know:

- Were the searches a mix of locals and tourists?

By the sounds of houses being search I am assuming, well make that hoping, it was only locals.

Could you post the source of your knowledge.

Cheers,

Digger.

That was the entire article. I read it at the online Expatica newspaper.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_con ... annel_id=1

There has been a law in effect just over a year now that requires anyone over the age of 14 to carry ID in the Netherlands, since Jan. of '05.

I guess now that the law is a yr. old they police decided to really go crazy and do wide spread enforcement in what the police consider to be high crime areas. In the past the police needed a valid reason to ask for ID, and could not do general checks as they see fit. Looks like now they can but I expect the new enforcement will be challenged.

Much like in the US where Bush rammed through The Patriot Act, it seems that the people of The Netherlands may have generally accepted the loss of privacy with the perception that they are safer.

I suspect the people who could not produce ID where then frisked, and the 80 minor infractions were most likely for having no ID, but I don't know. The fine for no ID is 50 euro and it applies to tourists and residents.

I had been warned back in 2002, that this can happen, looks like the time has finally come.
I think it's pretty sad that some people are OK with this, whatever the perception of any problems they feel AMS may have..

I SAW ALL THE POLICE ON THURSDAY I THOUGHT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WAS GOING ON.

I had hoped the city left that checkpoint crap behind it, say back in the early forties when darkness ruled along the canals and all over Europe. Yes, we want to be safe and avoid something even bigger than 9-11, but for chrissakes let's not let them take away our personal freedoms. I don't think that's what those boys lying under that green lawn down in Margraten died for....

http://www.digitalefotosite-corenjoke.c ... engels.htm

Was it just anyone who was stopped or was it certain "ethnicities"?

I'm against ID card myself, but if that's their law then so be it. Only a few weeks ago an English lad was stabbed to death there and so if it gets some knives off the streets and sends the message to the bridge trolls then so be it. Just make sure you stick the the 5g from now on I would say.

Here is an account of that evening from one person:

'I was in a Chines resturant on the Zeedijke and when i came out the street was blocked of and there where cops everywhere searching people(manley the junks and other street people)they gave me no problem."

I was searched back on '04. It was in the leidesplein right by the Bulldog Palace. There was a line of police blocking the street but some people just walked real fast or just just rode their bikes by real fast and the police don't even make an effort to stop them.

"If you have a hundred sons, name them all Mohammed."

In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, the name Mohammed is becoming increasingly common. On the top-20 name lists in some cities, it even comes in first. It is a Moroccan tradition to name one's first son after the founder of Islam, and given that Moroccan women tend to have more children than indigenous Dutch women, the name Mohammed will doubtlessly maintain its prevalence.*

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With the 50 euro fine also applying to tourists thst cannot produce id does anyone know if it ok to carry a photocopy of your passport as i normally do rather than your origanal passport which i leave in my hotel safe? I don't like carrying my passport about in my pocket with me in any country i visit due to the thriving industry in selling stolen passports.

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This is the identification I always carry when on the street.

They are looking for an official ID with picture. I carry my drivers’ license along with a card from the hotel. Although I haven't been challenged on it yet, I'm confident this type of identification will be sufficient. The combination gives them all the information they need and can be verified.

I checked specifically with the Politie and was told that a valid US license with photo was okay, so I would think that would go for British, French, etc. driver's licenses.

"The most problematic areas are identified by the council"
That's gotta be the main RLD then.
The scum that's pestering, intimidating & harrassing the kamer kustomers have got to be dealt with.
If they trouble you, remember the adams apple!! Then stroll on & back to your kamer Kruising.