The National Police should create a ‘separate national unit’ for the investigation of organized subversive crime, terrorism and serious forms of cybercrime.
This concludes a committee chaired by the former mayor of Haarlem Bernt Schneiders in the report ‘Room for decisive police work† The research – in the hands of NRC – will be sent to the House of Representatives by Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security, VVD) on Thursday. The committee spent a year investigating problems within the National Unit (LE). The committee’s proposals can count on broad support from the Minister of Justice, the House of Representatives, the police unions and also within the police leadership, according to discussions with those involved.
Ten years after the formation of the National Police, according to the Commission of Inquiry, a thorough renovation of the police organization is needed, starting with the National Unit. The six thousand LE employees now assist the ten regional units and are also charged with tackling organized crime and personal security, among other things. The unit has regularly been discredited in recent years. There were problems with executives, serious corruption cases and three colleagues committed suicide.
The current LE should be cut in half. In addition to the service that tackles ‘tough guys’ (national investigation unit), there must be a unit that carries out national public order operations: from farmer protests to demonstrations against corona measures. That unit deals with matters ranging from air support, police dogs to personal security. The reorganization “increases the clout” and, according to the committee, creates “space for the human dimension” within the police organization.
New profiles for pipeline
Changing the organization alone is not enough. The report states that “it is imperative that targeted, well-supported interventions are made in the work culture and leadership of the two national units”. The ‘entire leadership’ must be ‘designed on the basis of new profiles’. Schneiders wants to see whether the current police leaders are sufficiently equipped and suitable.
In order to ensure that the police can make better use of large amounts of data, the committee wants a ‘common’ data warehouse” comes before the rural units. Such a database could “be scaled up at a later stage” for the entire police force.
The committee repeatedly emphasizes the importance of ‘a culture change’, which can create a much-needed ‘safe working environment’ within the police force. Managers and employees should formulate together what they see as desirable behaviour. “It is important that undesirable behavior is explicitly stated at all times, for example: discrimination, racism, indecent manners, inadequate handling of criticism and contradiction, bullying and acting with integrity”.
According to Schneiders, police officers will have to “lead by example” by better tackling inappropriate behavior. “This has not gone well in several places in the LE in the past.” The committee considers it necessary for the leadership of the National Unit to be ‘assessed in a process with external expertise’ to determine whether they are suitable leaders. According to the committee, it is “inconceivable” that the necessary cultural change will be achieved “without personnel changes, including in management”.
Example behaviour
The report criticizes the way executives operate. Bosses pay too little attention to ‘the mental well-being’ of their employees. The reform of the police will not succeed if top officials do not show ‘exemplary behaviour’. “The tone at the top is important. If the shop floor does not feel heard and sees that the management is displaying undesirable behavior and is not held accountable for it, this affects the foundation for professional and honest action”.
Read also why the House of Representatives has placed the police top under guardianship
It is spicy that the report appears a few days after it became known that chief of police Henk van Essen is trying to arrange for the chief commissioner who has been in charge of the malfunctioning National Unit for the past six years, Jannine van den Berg, to be promoted to vice president of international affairs. police agency Interpol.
On the basis of earlier findings, which were made public this spring in an interim report by the committee, a generous majority of the House of Representatives decided in May that the National Police force leadership should be placed under stricter, external supervision. In a motion, the House declared that the Schneiders Committee would be charged with supervising the implementation of the necessary changes. Next Thursday, the House of Representatives will debate the future of the National Unit.