Is this the hardest part of policing?
‘In any case, these are the confrontations that we, from the entire list of police work, want to deal with last. Yet it often happens: every year we go to 110,000 reports about confused people.
‘One problem is that officers do not always know what to expect. We have had a real-time intelligence center: in the control room, all systems are checked at the same time, for a specific location or person. Does someone have a psychiatric history, is he approachable? But when you go to a report about an unidentified person on the street, it’s often unclear.
‘In this investigation, it often concerned someone who was brandishing a knife. Then you, as an officer, try to keep the situation calm. This is not possible if this person poses a danger to us, himself or bystanders. Then you are faced with a difficult choice. It is not about a serious criminal with a Kalashnikov, but about someone who is vulnerable, confused, unpredictable and dangerous. Using violence is sometimes necessary to protect society. But how do you do that with as little injury as possible? If it eventually leads to a death, that’s terrible.’
Could the electroshock weapon, which was introduced at the beginning of this year, be useful in such a case?
‘We are convinced that it can lead to fewer fatal incidents. In 18 of the 50 cases in this investigation, the police fired shots, resulting in gunshot wounds. Sometimes there was no other way, because officers were facing someone with a firearm. Sometimes, I know of several examples, the electroshock weapon would have been a good alternative.’
Can officers actually assess such situations properly?
‘That’s difficult. In an acute situation, they have to decide in a split second. Suddenly you are confronted by someone who actually has the status of a patient, but who in your opinion is indeed a danger. Also in mental health institutions, when nurses and security guards can no longer handle it.’
Shouldn’t rescuers be deployed faster and earlier?
‘We are constantly working on that. That too is a way of reducing the number of incidents: ensuring that auxiliary troops are organized that are more equipped for this than the police. The only question is: can this be achieved in practice? After all, different choices have been made in healthcare; people live less in an institution and more often at home, under supervision.
‘I have experience with this from a private environment. I keep details to myself. But I know what can happen if someone takes their medicines less faithfully or thinks: I don’t need them anymore. That’s annoying, but of course you can’t just lock people up.’
Are the police saddled with a social problem that does not belong to you?
‘You could say that, if you reason simply. But the police must be there when a situation escalates, that’s our job. It is not always possible to prevent things from going wrong. It often involves a combination of factors, including the use of force by the police, such as drug use and a fatal state of extreme excitement.’
In 23 of the 50 fatal police incidents, the victim had a non-Western migration background. How do you explain that?
‘More research is needed to explain this. Police sociologist Jaap Timmer may well be right, because these kinds of cases often take place in neighborhoods where more people from lower socio-economic classes live and more people with a migration background.’
Critics will think it has to do with prejudice or discrimination.
‘In 35 of the 50 cases it was a report, so the police were essentially sent somewhere. Please note: Amnesty International and Control Alt Delete, which campaigns against ethnic profiling, were members of the advisory committee. We did not do this research to clean up our alley, but to put these facts on the table and make sure we do our job better.’