Dutch police understaffed: fewer crimes investigated
In the media image: Maxim Hopman on Unsplash
Staff shortages within the Dutch police force mean that fewer reported crimes are being investigated. Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology, spoke to Dutch public broadcaster NOS about the consequences of the staffing problems.
The police are struggling with staff shortages, which means that there is less time to investigate crimes that have been reported. As a result, more and more cases are being shelved. Last year, more than 45,000 reported crimes remained unprocessed. That is twice as many cases compared to five years ago, according to figures published by Pointer and NOS. The number of reported crimes, however, has remained virtually the same since 2020. To prevent victims of uninvestigated crimes from losing their faith in the police, it is important that they are told early on about what the police can do for them.
'Of course, this has to be done in a positive and constructive way,' Professor Kunst says. 'Victims should not only be told what they should not expect from the police, but also what they can expect. And the police need to live up to the latter.' By this, the professor means that the police should take a more active role in aftercare or referrals for proper support. 'This also requires staffing capacity, but probably much less than what would be needed for investigative work.'
More information?
Read the full NOS article (in Dutch)