Law enforcement in the Netherlands

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

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, ambulance service and other government agencies in the security region corresponding to the police region.

The regiokorpsen
Every regiokorps (regional force) is led by a korpschef (force chief), a Hoofdcommissaris (Chief Commissioner) who conducts the daily management of the force. Decisions about the principal lines of law enforcement policy are made by a regional board, the so called Driehoek (triangle) whose chairman is 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.

Any police officer may also be deployed in a riot police Mobile Unit and nearly all officers attend a basic course to qualify them for such duties. Mobile units are called in to deal with serious public order offenses. Each police region has one or more units on stand-by for a total of 45 mobile units nationwide, each of which has about 50 members (including middle-ranking and senior officers). Nine units have also been trained to respond to incidents on ships.

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

Koninklijke Marechaussee
The Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar) (Royal Marechaussee in English) is one of the four services of the Netherlands armed forces. It is a gendarmerie — that is, a military body conducting the peacetime duties of a normal police force.

Ranks
Within the Dutch police the following ranks are in use: In addition to these ranks, the so-called Buitengewoon Opsporings Ambtenaren (Special Investigation Officials) serve in the force. These are usually not a part of the above rank system. 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 use of force.
 * Chief Constable (Hoofdcommissaris)
 * Commissioner (Commissaris)
 * Superintendent (Hoofdinspecteur)
 * Inspector (Inspecteur)
 * Sergeant (Brigadier)
 * Constable First Class (Hoofdagent)
 * Constable (Agent)
 * Police Patrol Officer (Surveillant)
 * Police Trainee (Aspirant)

Equipment
Basically the equipment of every Dutch police officer consists of the following:


 * Handcuffs (type: LIPS)
 * Short baton
 * Pepperspray
 * Handgun

Personnel from the rank of Officer (Agent) and also some trainees (Aspirant) carry a firearm. The German-made Walther P5 is currently in use and has been since 1978. The Dutch government is currently looking for a replacement for this old firearm. Which firearm will be the replacement is yet unknown.

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 assistance

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

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.

The other two priorities are dispatched to neighbourhood teams.
 * 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.

Systems in use
For a number of years, the communications centres have used the Gemeenschappelijk Meldkamer Systeem (Common Communications Centre System, GMS). This system has a lot of functions. In the first place it functions as a plotting screen which displays every unit logged in. 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.

Basic police work
In the Netherlands 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.
 * Basic detective work: investigating petty thefts and burglaries is part of basic police work; when the case takes up too much time, it is transferred to the special branch.
 * Giving crime prevention advice: giving advice on how to deter burglaries, advising municipalities on traffic issues, consultancy, etc.
 * Providing assistance: assistance is provided to those who ask for it but also to game wardens, municipalities etc.
 * 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 (visa, residence permit, work permit etc.) in cooperation with the immigration 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 serious crimes such as 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 (such as photographs and finger prints) and information about criminal organisations by for example the Criminele Inlichtingen Eenheid (Criminal Intelligence Unit, CIE).
 * Aliens: issuing residence permits and supervising people staying in the Netherlands who don't have Dutch citizenship.
 * Environmental service: because environmental law is complex, this is a specialist mission. In several Dutch municipalities these tasks are entrusted to a special Milieupolitie (Environmental police).
 * Operational support tasks: tasks that support basic law enforcement or specialist tasks, such as police horse and dog) care, the Mobiele Eenheid (Mobile Unit, riot control), arrestatieteams (a bit like SWAT teams; armed with the GLOCK 17 unlike other constables and/or with a submachine gun, usually the Heckler & Koch MP5, for high-risk arrests) and observatieteams (observation teams, OT).

The Dutch government is keen to put more and more police "on the street". This means that automisation will have to be improved so that constables do not lose a lot of time noting all their observations on paper for later use. The uniformed policemen on the street are those of the patrol service.

Sometimes police patrols drive directly from the communications centre to the location where someone requested assistance. This can be a simple case of someone locking their keys inside their car, a complaint about litter or an incoveniently parked 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. 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 behaviour, such as someone walking around looking inside parked cars, cars without working lights or drunken cyclists.

Car owners are told that their 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.

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 Police Law, the Arms and Munitions Law, the Opium Law, 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.

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.

Slachtofferhulp
For providing support to victims the police cooperates with the Bureaus Slachtofferhulp (comparable to Victim Support). The employees of Slachtofferhulp are specially 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.

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