A digital neighborhood police officer. In the Netherlands, eighty of these police specialists are now active on the internet. In Drenthe, the three basic teams now all have one digital community police officer.
Coen Kempeneers has been the digital community police officer in Southeast Drenthe for a year and a half now. His activities include online surveillance, supporting research into digital crime, prevention and information. “What I do is just like in practice. The police enter the neighborhood and see what’s there. I do the same, but on the laptop,” he explains.
“I go online to see what is there and what is going on. Sometimes in response to specific incidents, if something has happened somewhere. But also in general: how do people react? What is being said?”, says Kempeneers. “Then I gauge the atmosphere. And with that I help community police officers to take to the streets better informed.”
Coen Kempeneers explains his work as a digital community police officer in this video:
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