Early in the summer, the police and the council in Hemiksem, south of Antwerp, kept getting reports of noise and litter in the parks around the old abbey and along the Scheldt. Three of the young people behind it were identified. In principle they faced a municipal fine. Mayor Jenne Meyvis invited them into his office instead and offered them a few hours of work. They took it, and last week they cleared litter from the abbey park and the dike, with the mayor and the police alongside them.
He then asked them to bring some friends along for an evening talk, and ended up sitting with eight teenagers between fifteen and seventeen. They pointed out a spot where a bin was missing and said more patrols would be fine by them. A fine, the mayor notes, usually lands with the parents.
So…:
Where could you swap a penalty for a few hours spent side by side?
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