National Police Corps (Netherlands)

The Dutch Police history starts in 1581, with the formation of the Dutch Republic. A simple police organization was created without clear tasks and powers. This stayed the same until 1810, when Napoleon annexed the Netherlands to the French Empire and started to set up a proper police force. Cities could free up money for a schout (sheriff); for towns this was a Veldwachter (constable).

The Netherlands regained its independence in 1813 and a year later King Willem I established the Corps de Marechaussee. The corps had twelve hundred employees and was a branch of the armed forces. It performs military tasks for the armed forces and non-military tasks for the Rijkspolitie (national police). In 1858, in addition to the Marechaussee, the Korps Rijksveldwacht (national constable corps) was created with fourteen hundred employees. This force focused on public order in rural areas. In addition to the two corps, there was also a Gemeentepolitie (municipal police) with eleven thousand employees, Politietroepen (police troops) with sixteen hundred employees, and the Gemeenteveldwacht (municipal constable).

During the Second World War there was a Reichskommissar fur die Niederlande, Arthur Seyss-Inquart. The entire police force numbered about twenty thousand employees. After the war, this service is disbanded. To restore and control public order, the government decided to set up a new police organization in November 1945. A distinction was made between the Gemeentepolitie (municipal police) for designated municipalities, and the Rijkspolitie (national police) for the rest of the country.

The split disappeared in 1994, after a major reorganization the Rijkspolitie (national police) and Gemeentepolite (municipal police) are merged into 25 Regiokorpsen (regional police forces) and the Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (national police services agency). Each corps worked autonomously. This structure lasted until January 1, 2013. From that day on, the police has been one organization, the Korps Nationale Politie (national police corps), divided into ten Regionale Eenheden (regional units), a Landelijke Eenheid (national unit), a Politieacademie (police academy), and the Politiedienstencentrum (police services center) that handles personnel. From then on, one Commisioner of police has directed police in the Netherlands. Since then the police has also started a new temporary branch for a joint dispatch center transition to one national grid, known as the Landelijke Meldkamer Samenwerking (national dispatch center cooperation), and is planning on spliting the national unit into two national units, one for expertise and operations, and one for investigation and intervention.

Police officers in uniform

Every regionale eenheid (regional unit) is led by a unitchef (unit chief), a Hoofdcommissaris (Chief Commissioner) who conducts the day-to-day police force management. Decisions about the principal law enforcement policies are made by a regional board, the so-called Driehoek (triangle) whose chairman is the eenheidsbeheerder (unit manager). The eenheidsbeheerder is usually the mayor of the largest municipality in the region. The other board members of the Driehoek are the unit chief and the local 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. So the smallest force counts about 300 police officers, while the largest one counts more than 5,000 police employees. There are about 55,000 police employees serving in the Netherlands.

Selected police officers may also be deployed in a riot police mobile unit. Mobile units are called in to deal with serious public order offences. 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 maritime vessels. The mobile unit also incorporates plain clothes units known as 'aanhoudingseenheden'. These groups target specific suspects of public order offenses.

The landelijke eenheid (National Unit, LE) is led by a unitchief, a Chief Commissioner who conducts the day-to-day police force management. Decisions about the principal law enforcement policies for the national unit are made by a national board, the triangle whose chairman is the minister of Justice and Security. The other board members are the unit chief and the national chief prosecutor. The LE provides eleven operational services, including:

Insignia of Dienst Speciale Interventies (DSI)

The LE is responsible for policing on the roads, waterways, railways and in the air. It also combats domestic and cross-border serious/organised crime and terrorism. For that last purpose the LE has operational command of all anti-terror police units. The national unit supports the regional police units with specialised means such as police horse and dog teams; provides witness protection. A last task is the protection of members of the Dutch Royal Family and other dignitaries (e.g., diplomats and politicians) as assigned by the authorised minister.

Coming soon

coming soon

The Landelijke Meldkamer Samenwerking or LMS is a relatively independent division of the police. The LMS manages and operates 10 shared regional dispatch centers. Each dispatch center houses police, ambulance services, fire brigade, and military police operators. If one center can't operate another center can take over. These centers receive calls to 112 that automatically get directed to the national dispatch center, then they get put through to the right region. From there an operator asks and puts you through to the right service section in the building, the operator of that service directs the units to the location and gives them details as they come in, the operator also sees the units locations to be able to choose the closest units. The operator also determines if the situation is an emergency, and what priority the situation is, there are three priorities.[6][7]

use of lights and sirens, the vehicle is considered a priority vehicle.

No use of lights and sirens, but the unit does have certain exemptions like driving the wrong way, parking on the sidewalk, etc.

No use of lights or sirens and no exemptions, the vehicle is a regular road user.[8]

coming soon

• Mercedes-Benz G-Class (retired)
• Opel Astra (retired)
• Ford F350 (retired)
• Volvo V50 (retired)
• Volvo V70 (retired)
• Jeep Wrangler (retired)

All calls to the national police number 0900-8844 come in around the clock.

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, secure 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.

Old Dutch police emblem in stone, in front of the entrance of the Dutch Police Museum

In the Netherlands basic police work consists of the following tasks:

• Visible public policing: 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 and other civil authorities etc.
• Dealing with traffic issues: traffic surveillance, handling traffic accidents, advising citizens and municipalities, traffic congestion security.
• Maintaining laws and regulations (often in conjunction 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), Aanhoudings- en Ondersteuningseenheid" (Arrest and Supportunit, established for high-risk arrests) and observatieteams (observation teams, OT; comparable to ).

The Dutch government is keen to put more and more police "on the street". This means that the use of ICT 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 inconveniently 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.

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

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.

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