Policing in the Netherlands

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The Dutch police is a government agency charged with upholding the law and public order and providing aid. It is also the investigation service for the Attorney General of the Judiciary.

Contents 1 Organisation 1.1 The regiokorpsen 1.2 Korps landelijke politiediensten 2 Ranks 3 Tasks 3.1 Communications centre 3.1.1 Systems in use 3.2 Basic police work 4 Powers 4.1 Cooperation with other services 4.1.1 Slachtofferhulp 4.1.2 Continuing support 5 References 6 See also 7 External link

[edit] Organisation

From the end of 1945 until 1993, the Dutch police was composed of the gemeentepolitie (municipal police) and the rijkspolitie (state police).

In 1993 the police in the Netherlands was reorganised into 25 regiokorpsen (regional forces) and the Korps landelijke politiediensten (National police services force, KLPD). In the event of serious emergencies, the police cooperates with the fire brigade and the ambulance services in the safety region that corresponds to the police region , and with other government agencies.

[edit] The regiokorpsen

Every regiokorps (regional force) is led by a korpschef (force chief), a chief superintendent who is charged with the daily management of his force. The daily management of the region consists of the so called Driehoek (triangle) in that region, which is presided by the korpsbeheerder (force manager). The korpsbeheerder is the mayor of the largest municipality in the region. The other members of the Driehoek are the korpschef and the (chief) prosecutor.

A region consists of several districts, each having a district chief. Each district consists of a number of local units, called basiseenheden (basic units) or teams.

The "police strength", the number of constables and other police employees in a region is determined by the number of inhabitants and the amount of crime in the region. There are about 55,000 police employees serving in the Netherlands.

[edit] Korps landelijke politiediensten

The Korps landelijke politiediensten (National Police Services Agency, KLPD) provides twelve operational services, including:

• Dienst Nationale Recherche (National Investigation Service)
• Dienst Nationale Recherche Informatie (National Investigation Information Service)
• Dienst Internationale Politiesamenwerking (International Police Cooperation Service)
• Dienst Koninklijke en Diplomatieke Beveiliging (Royal and Diplomatic Security Service)

The KLPD is also responsible for maintaining safety and combatting crime on the highways, waterways, railways and in the air. It also combats serious and organised crime, controls the nation's anti-terror units and much of the police horse and dog teams, and protects the Dutch Royal House and other people assigned to them (e.g. diplomats and politicians) by the authorised minister.

[edit] Ranks

Within the Dutch police the following ranks are in use: ^[1]

• Chief Commissioner (Hoofdcommissaris)
• Commissioner (Commissaris)
• Chief Inspector (Hoofdinspecteur)
• Inspector (Inspecteur)
• Sergeant (Brigadier)
• Chief Officer (Hoofdagent)
• Officer (Agent)
• Police Surveillance Officer (Surveillant)
• Trainee (Aspirant)

Apart from these so called Buitengewoon Opsporings Ambtenaren (Special Investigation Officials) serve in the force. These are not always part of the rank system above. These Special Investigation Officials may be authorised for specific duties such as parking duties or railway duties. Often it means they are authorised to uphold specific laws by fining transgressors, without the use of weapons or any other means of violence.

[edit] Tasks

Article 2 of the Dutch Police law describes what the missions of the police are: "The task of the police is to, in subordination to the authorities and complying with applicable law, take care of the actual upholding of the legal order and to supply aid to those who need it." In practise this is comes down to four main missions.

• Prevention (preventing offences and crimes)
• Investigation of crimes and offences
• Upholding the legal order
• Supplying aid

Within the police, several departments are occupied with parts of these main tasks.

[edit] Communications centre

The communications centre is sometimes called the heart of the police force. All calls to the emergency telephone number 112 and the national police number 0900-8844 come in here around the clock.

The people of the communications centre have to judge the calls in such a way that something is done, fast and properly. If a call is serious, an employee in the communications centre will have to directly choose which police officers are to be dispatched to the address. The communications centre employees know exactly where all the members of the force on the street are.

The calls coming in to the communications centre are dispatched according to a number of criteria, resulting in so called priorities. Four priorities are defined.

• Priority number one: a life-threatening situation where police assistance is required within ten minutes.
• Priority number two: an arrival time of thirty minutes is required.

The other two priorities are dispatched to neighbourhood teams.

[edit] Systems in use

For a number of years, the communications centres have used the Gemeenschappelijk Meldkamer Systeem (Common Cummunications Centre System, GMS). This system has a lot of functions. In the first place it functions as a plotting screen which displays every logged in unit. It also has a database function for procedures and phone numbers necessary for correctly executing police work and it links to the C2000 system and the CityGIS (GPS) system.

C2000 is the digital, untappable communications system and, with CityGIS, police cars can be tracked on a map using GPS, which can be reported to the communications centre using a VDO navigation system.

[edit] Basic police work

The basic police work consists of the following tasks:

• Visible police on the street: being visibly present on the street, on foot or in a marked car, prevents people from committing offences and crimes.
• Small, simple detective work: investigating small thefts and burglaries is part of basic police work; when this takes up too much time, it is transferred to the special branch.
• Giving prevention advice: giving advice preventing burglaries, advising the municipalities on traffic issues, consultancy, etcetera.
• Supplying aid: aid is supplied to those who ask for it, but also to organisations like game wardens and municipalities.
• Dealing with traffic issues: traffic surveillance, handling traffic accidents, advising citizens and municipalities, traffic congestion security.
• Maintaining laws and regulations (often in cunjunction with the special service): e.g. checking if foreigners are in possession of the right documents (visum, stay permit, work permit, and such) in cooperation with someone of the foreigner service.
• Special tasks: apart from daily activities a few special tasks are part of basic policing; these are executed independently or in conjunction with normal police activities, like the vice squad.
• National, (inter)regional investigations: investigating heavy crimes, like murder, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, youth delinquency, arms trade, fraud, big environmental cases and sexual offences; the detectives are often supported by specialists.
• Information management: gathering and processing technical information (like photographs and finger prints) and information about criminal organisations by for example the Criminele Inlichtingen Eenheid (Criminal Intelligence Unit, CIE).
• Foreignercare: issuing stay permits and supervising people staying in the Netherlands who don't have Dutch citizenship.
• Environmental service: because environmental law is complex, this is a specialistic task. In several Dutch municipalities these tasks are invested in a special Milieupolitie (Environmental police).
• Operational support tasks: tasks that support basic law enforcement and/or specialist tasks, like police animal care (horses and dogs), the Mobiele Eenheid (Mobile Unit, riot control), arrestatieteams (a bit like SWAT teams; armed with the Walther P5 like other constables or with a submachine gun, usually the Heckler & Koch MP5, for high-risk arrests) and observatieteams (observation teams, OT).

The government likes to have more and more police do their job "on the street". This means that automisation will have to be improved, because constables often lose a lot of time putting everything they found on paper for the judge and lawyer. The uniformed policemen on the street are those of the surveillance service.

Sometimes policemen drive directly from the communications centre to the location where someone requested assistance. This can be for something simple like: "shut the car doar with the key still inside", a complaint about litter, or an incoveniently misparked car. There are also more serious calls that need direct attention, like an accident with injuries, a stabbing, a burglary, vandalism; all events where the police has to act and reassure.

Surveillance is not only done from the patrol car, but also from a motorbike or a horse (the use of horses is controversial, since horses can easily wound people). Especially in crowded malls surveillance is often done on foot or (motor)bike. The men and women on the street have to permanently "keep their eyes open" to spot suspicious beaviour, like someone who walks around looking inside parked cars, cars without working lights or drunken cyclists.

It's not the job of the police to hand out as many fines as possible, even though there is a "performance contract".

The car owner is told that his lights are broken and why this is dangerous. A constable on foot may tell shop owners to put locks on their shelves outside to prevent shoplifting. If you report on a stolen bike, you'll be told what kind of bike locks are most effective.

The police in a municipality are available 24 hours every day for basic law enforcement. More and more often the police will visit schools to teach pupils about drug prevention, vandalism or sex on the internet. The police in a municipality make sure that what is forbidden isn't done, and that which is mandatory is actually done. They also make sure that anyone who asks for assistance gets it, supported by personnel from the district and the region. Since the early 90s several police regions have been working with neighbourhood teams called neighbourhood supervisors.

[edit] Powers

The police have powers "ordinary" people don't have. E.g. an officer can stop or arrest people, or look in a shopping bag for lifted items, or (on authorization of the assistant prosecutor) search a home for arms. The police also have the power to use force. This power is often called the "monopoly on force". The police is one of the few organisations in the Netherlands that are allowed to use force, the use of which is bound by many rules and preconditions.

The power to stop someone is often confused with the power to arrest someone. The power to stop someone is the power of the police to make someone stand still, so that the police can ask for his name and address. (A lot of people say they have been arrested when they were really only fined or just stopped.)

The power to stop someone is the power that enables the arrest of someone. However, this power is not only granted to the police. The Code of Criminal Procedure, article 53, sub 1, reads:

In case of discovery in the act everyone is authorized to stop the suspect.

The term "in the act" meaning "when it just happened".

Stopping someone means holding the suspect while waiting for the arrival of the police. When someone is stopped, he is always brought to a police station for questioning.

The investigative powers of the police are for example described in the Policelaw, the Arms and munitions law, the Opiumlaw, the Road traffic law 1994, the Entry law and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

These powers are bound by very strict rules. Some of these powers may be applied by an officer himself, like the examples before. Other police powers, like wiretapping, observation or searching premises, can only be used after permission is granted by the examining judge.

[edit] Cooperation with other services

When providing aid the police cooperates with other services. When dealing with an accident for example, the police cooperates with ambulance services, doctors and the fire brigade. The police also cooperate with the Koninklijke Marechaussee.

[edit] Slachtofferhulp

For providing support to victims the police cooperates with the Bureaus Slachtofferhulp (comparable to Victim Support). The employees of Slachtofferhulp are specialy trained to provide support to victims of accidents and crime. They make sure that victims are coached, but they also help with filling in forms for insurance or a lawyer.

[edit] Continuing support

The police cooperates closely with support organisations that can continue providing support when the abilities of the police to do so come to an end. A few examples:

• Addiction care like the Consultatiebureau voor Alcohol en Drugs, Kentron or Novadic.
• Mental health Care (for people who e.g. want to commit suicide or are a danger to others)
• The Reclassering Nederland (the Dutch parole office)
• The youth parole office
• The Raad voor de Kinderbescherming (comparable to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)
• Social work, e.g. in case of domestic violence

[edit] References

1. ^ van Dale handwoordenboek Nederlands-Engels, derde druk 1996, ISBN 90-6648-218-4

[edit] See also

• Belgian police
• Grand Ducal Police, Luxembourg

[edit] External link

• Website of the Dutch police in English