Slowly and very quietly, the boss of the East Netherlands police, Gert Veurink, opens a window on the ninth and highest floor of the headquarters in Apeldoorn. “When you stick your head out, you must quickly look to the right,” the chief commands. The bird splendor will reveal itself immediately, he promises.
A peregrine falcon races past the building. The bird is the fastest animal on earth and can reach speeds of more than three hundred kilometers per hour during the dives with which it attacks prey (often pigeons). After opening the window, the female left the nest, a metal box attached to the building, in a fright. Three white fluffy balls, which hatched from the egg in early May, were left parentless and now peer suspiciously at the visitor through the open side wall.
It is very popular that peregrine falcons breed here. That’s very good, because you’re only going to protect something if you love it
Veurink (51 years old) – boss of the seven thousand employees in the largest police region in the country – is a passionate bird watcher. In his office, on the same floor as the falcon’s nest, he has 25 self-made photos of hummingbirds hanging.
He is also a dedicated odonatologist, an expert on dragonflies. On May 11, 2011, Veurink and a friendly ranger managed to rediscover a population of the elegant white-faced dragonfly, which was thought to be lost in the Netherlands, in the De Weerribben nature reserve in Steenwijkerland. It is therefore not entirely coincidental that he is the national portfolio holder for the environment in the group of twelve unit chiefs that comprise the police.
‘Serious improvement’
At first, colleagues thought he was a rather strange bird because of his exuberant love for nature, Veurink noticed, who exchanged a job as a prosecutor for a career in the police in 2019. On his first day at work in Apeldoorn he became distracted by passing peregrine falcons.
Veurink arranged the purchase and installation of a nest box at the police headquarters through the facilities department. The peregrine falcon was almost extinct as a breeding bird in the Netherlands at the end of the last century. By placing hives on high buildings and chimneys, this falcon can be admired more often in our own country.
Veurink’s relief effort also immediately bore fruit. Almost every year ‘his’ peregrine falcons fill the police nest with four to six eggs. During the maternity visit, Veurink says that he initially hesitated to come out to the police as a bird man, but he has now “gone beyond the shame”. Colleagues are increasingly looking at the birds in awe. “That’s very good, because you will only protect something if you love it. It is very important that peregrine falcons breed here.”
Last year, the police and the Public Prosecution Service, together with other investigative services, looked at how the approach to environmental crime “can be seriously improved”, says Veurink. On June 24, the police will present an action plan on “how we will better safeguard our environmental capacity. A fence must be built around the environmental police to prevent exempt environmental investigators from being used for all kinds of other investigations.”
Young peregrine falcons.
Photos José Ruiter / East Netherlands police unit
Environmental crime
A draft version of the new plan states that a safe environment is a fundamental right and an important condition for the functioning of our society and the police. “Increasing threats to the environment, such as a changing climate, pose major security risks and lead to social unrest.”
In total, the police (65,000 people) have approximately four hundred detective positions throughout the country for tackling environmental crime and three hundred for environmental officers in the basic teams. “In practice, these people are often quickly taken from work to help solve a murder or drug case. The plan is to give the National Unit full control and central coordination over management,” says Veurink.
Fortunately, we see that the younger generation of colleagues consider the environment much more important than before
Veurink also advocates measures to do something about the surplus of vacancies. “In fact, of the four hundred investigation positions, only about three hundred are occupied and we are still missing a hundred and fifty environmental officers in the basic teams. For a long time, many colleagues did not find the environment such an interesting subject.” A detective would rather hunt down a drug trafficker like Bolle Jos than investigate waste dumping, fertilizer fraud or illegal fishing.
“Many police officers find the environment too soft and the work also requires a lot of specialist knowledge. Environmental investigation requires a lot of expertise and depth. Fortunately, we see that the younger generation of colleagues consider the environment much more important than before. People now come to work for the police because they want to protect the environment.”
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