Compared to ten years ago, the Groningen walking audience has grown older and feels safer. In addition, alcohol is just as popular and drugs are used slightly more. At the beginning of this year, Intraval presented research results regarding the nightlife crowd in the camera areas and in the Kromme Elleboog.
The Municipality of Groningen has commissioned a research and consultancy firm intraval to gauge the sense of (in)security of the nightlife public in the CCTV areas of the city centre. This concerns the areas around the Grote Markt, the Poelestraat, the Peperstraat and the Gelkingestraat. The area around the Kromme Elleboog was also included in the study. The measurements took place in particular at the end of 2015 and the research report was published in January 2016.
Research
The respondents were initially divided into three age groups, but the results showed that the age 'younger than 18 years' could hardly be found; the audience is getting older. That is why the following distribution has been chosen: up to and including 25 years and older than 25 years. On various days out, they were approached in the street or asked to participate in an investigation. After which they were then interviewed by telephone – if permitted.
Questions mainly concerned the perception of safety or insecurity, camera surveillance, violent crimes, alcohol and drug use, going out, catering (staff) and porters. Ultimately, there were 301 respondents for the survey. In both the camera areas and in the Kromme Elleboog, the majority of passers-by are men.
Alcohol and drug use
The people who spoke out in the camera areas consumed an average of eight glasses of alcohol per night out, just like ten years ago. In the Kromme Elleboog there are on average six. There is no difference between age groups in both cases; between genders, men drink significantly a few glasses more than women.
Drug use while going out is 13% in the camera areas and 6% in the Kromme Elleboog, mainly XTC, soft drugs, cocaine and speed. Ten years ago this was 11% and soft drugs were still the most commonly used drugs, hard drugs have become more popular in recent years.
Admission Policy
More than 84% of the respondents who were approached in the camera areas indicate that visitors/customers are sometimes refused. In the Kromme Elleboog this number is 34%. In both cases, it usually concerns the behavior of the rejected person. In the case of drunkenness or aggressiveness, people are refused more often than on the basis of clothing or ethnicity.
Insecurity
Ten years ago, of the 300 respondents in a similar survey by Interval, 28% said they sometimes feel unsafe. This year this applies to 17% of the respondents in the camera areas and to 3% in the Kromme Elleboog. In both cases it appears that the younger age group suffers from this more often and that when looking at gender, women give this answer more often than men. The reasons behind these figures are mainly (groups of) people who behave aggressively or are very drunk.
Aggression and violence
Almost all visitors to the camera areas (92%) indicate that they have seen aggression or violence during the past 12 months while going out. For visitors to the Kromme Elleboog, this percentage is 34. This mainly concerns verbal aggression on the street or in catering establishments. Other answers (albeit to a lesser extent) are vandalism, violence and threats.
Theft
Something/object was stolen from a quarter of the 200 respondents from the camera areas in the past year. In the Kromme Elleboog this applies to 5% of the 101 respondents, this concerns the theft of a bicycle. Coats and telephones are also sometimes stolen in the camera areas. The younger age group (up to and including 25 years) suffers from this more often than those who have already passed the age of 25.
Supervision
When asked about the supervision of the police, it appears that only 2% of the respondents from the camera areas indicated that they did not encounter any police. In the Kromme Elleboog this number is much higher: 34%. For those who indicate that they see police in both entertainment areas, the majority indicate that this is also enough blue on the street. The attitude of the police is generally seen as friendly. People who do not agree with this indicate that the police should act harder, be sharper or think too black and white.
It is generally found that there are enough doormen in the entertainment areas. In the Kromme Elleboog, 50% indicate that there are no doormen, but 60% of the people who indicate that they do experience porters, find the attitude of these doormen (very) friendly. This percentage is lower in the camera areas: 47%.
In both areas the majority of visitors indicate that they do not feel safer due to the presence of CCTV, only a third in both cases do feel safer. More than two-thirds (66%) of the respondents in the camera areas are aware of camera surveillance in this neighbourhood, the younger (50%) are less aware of this than the older age group (84%).
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Photo: Facebook KEI week Groningen
