Dutch police warn the government that the Netherlands is becoming a narco-state with the low index of crimes’ punishments. Detectives estimate just one in five cases is picked up, that allows criminals to be unpunished because of the shortage of detectives, Dutch News reported.
Official figures suggest crime is on a downward trend but officers say many victims have stopped reporting incidents while organised crime syndicates have been given a free rein. The paper from the Dutch police union, based on interviews with 400 detectives, adds:
“The Netherlands fulfils many characteristics of a narco-state. Detectives see a parallel economy emerge.”
Critics of the Dutch gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy) towards the sale of cannabis in coffee shops and the legal status of prostitution in the Netherlands claim the EU state has been inadvertently promoted as a major hub for the trafficking of drugs and people. The common Dutch citizens are suffering from such an image of the rich and old country.
Amsterdam’s police chief, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, claimed his force was spending 60% to 70% of its time attempting to combat gang-related hit-jobs. Young men were willing to carry out assassinations for as little as €3,000, he said in an interview this month.
“In the 80s and 90s, professional hitmen from abroad came here for €50,000,”
said Aalbersberg.
“In recent years we see young boys from Amsterdam.”
Dutch detectives’ report
The Dutch police urgently need 2,000 more detectives to make sure all cases can be followed up, the union says in a new report, which is in the hands of broadcaster NOS.
The report, based on interviews with 400 detectives, says the force is grappling with too many problems and nothing has been done to improve the detection service since the alarm was last sounded two years ago.
“The number of crimes against vulnerable people has increased due to the ageing population and more cutbacks in care,”
the report says.
“In particular, the theft, fraud and violence against the elderly and vulnerable people has increased enormously and insufficient attention is paid to this.”
According to police, it is time to change the situation – The Netherlands is not a major hub for the trafficking of drugs and people.
