The farmers’ protests are putting a heavy burden on the police force, as in East Brabant. On days with many and unexpected protests, that corps deploys about 150 extra officers per day. “That is at the expense of other matters,” says Wilbert Paulissen, police chief of the East Brabant unit. “There’s quite a bit of pressure on it.”
The announcement that the Netherlands would go flat on Monday, put the police on edge. “Often we are aware that something is going to happen. Where, when and how big such an action is is not always clear. We have our ears and eyes everywhere. We knew that traffic, aviation and distribution centers were possible targets. “
“You can’t be in two places at once.”
On such a day, the police deploy about one hundred and fifty extra officers. “They started at four o’clock on Monday morning and worked until the evening. You cannot be in two places at the same time, that is at the expense of other things,” says Paulissen.
The police chief indicates that larger criminal investigations will certainly not be ignored. “That happens in other teams. That work continues.” For the other cases, the police switches to a minimum capacity in these cases. “We are talking about visibility in the neighbourhood, enforcement, traffic projects, assault, burglaries or fraud cases with a mobile phone,” says the police chief.
Working in these circumstances is a police task, emphasizes the police chief. “Demonstration is a great thing in the Netherlands. It is the task of the police to ensure that it runs smoothly. Sometimes we deploy 150 people for this, but sometimes we can also do it locally with twenty or thirty people.”
“We have to make sure our people don’t get exhausted.”
How long can police keep this up? “We work long hours and have to make sure that our people don’t get exhausted. From the curfew riots of last January, we have learned to tackle it nationally. We are looking at which unit in the country can help. By dividing the capacity you can as police last longer. With flash actions, the farmers will try to exhaust the police. We will have to protect our people. There is quite a lot of pressure.”
Paulissen thinks that despite a busy day, his agents went home satisfied. “We have been able to avoid major and long-lasting blockages. We have maintained where necessary.”
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