You cannot win the battle against serious drug crime by pumping even more money into the police and the judiciary. A ‘no’ to drugs must also come from society itself. And education should contribute to that. That is the message of Chief Commissioner Wilbert Paulissen, the highest police chief in East Brabant.
He will participate in the television program Masterclass that will be broadcast on Omroep Brabant television on Sunday. The debate was recorded a few weeks ago in the Parktheater in Eindhoven and was organized by educational organization Fontys.
Paulissen is the main guest of the program. The native of Eindhoven has been with the police for 43 years. He ended up in The Hague via police stations in Oss and Den Bosch. There, as head of the national investigation, he led the investigation into the shooting down of flight MH17 in Ukraine. A miserable file, but also a period that can be described as a ‘boys book’. He flew all over the world. Then he settled in his own Eindhoven, as the highest police chief in East Brabant.
butter smugglers
He tells about his father who was also a police officer. They sometimes met in the field. Dad used to chase butter smugglers in a Dafje who scattered crow’s feet. Times have changed. The butter smugglers gave way to professional criminal organizations and what we now call ‘subversion’.
Estimates speak of a sales value of perhaps 19 billion euros that is involved in ecstasy, speed and meth in our country alone. Paulissen only emphasizes that. He remembers a tapped conversation in which one crook says to another: “I’m not about the five million, it’s about the principle.”
Baking with money
The debate is mainly about the attraction that the drug world has on young people. They can make tons of money there. Drugs are easier to buy than a pizza. When asked how many people have used something, several hands go up in the room.
The flip side is also discussed. Drugs sometimes destroy lives. A user and care providers talk about it. The discussion about legalizing the drug market is inevitable. What if we don’t ban anything anymore? Paulissen thinks that’s a bad idea. “You will get an enormous export and a pull effect. If you want to do this, it can only be done in an international context.”
Temptations are great
Chief Commissioner Paulissen thinks it is great that the police and the judiciary are getting more money. But he says it is not the solution to the problem. We can all be against undermining, the temptations are great. “We don’t mind drugs as a society.” For Paulissen it is going too far to treat drug users as criminals, but he believes that warnings must be given to stay away from that world.
“The police cannot possibly maintain a standard that is no longer supported in society. In doing so, I am really appealing to a social movement of which schools are also an important part.”
Sunday 26 June Masterclass can be seen at Omroep Brabant at 11:04. The program is repeated at 21:30.