The police still barely supervise private security companies and detective agencies, when they should. That appears from research published on Thursday of the Justice and Security Inspectorate. In 2016, when the Inspectorate conducted a similar investigation, the supervision also turned out to be substandard.
According to the Inspectorate, it is important to monitor the sector, because the work of these companies affects citizens in the area of freedom and privacy. The staff must therefore be “reliable and expert”, the Inspectorate writes in a press release accompanying this report.
Security companies and private detective agencies are only allowed to work with a permit, which has conditions that must be checked by the police. However, the police visit a maximum of five companies per year per regional unit, according to research. Sometimes none at all. In order to properly monitor all three thousand security companies and detective agencies in the Netherlands, each unit has to visit sixty companies every year.
Fragmented Information
The lack of supervision has several causes. According to the Inspectorate, the teams that have to carry out the checks do not work with a schedule and generally do not keep a systematic record of the checks that have been carried out. In addition, there is too few staff, who are often already busy granting new permits. Furthermore, information about the companies in question is often fragmented and not properly maintained.
Checks at security companies generally go better than checks at detective agencies. This is because security at events and doormen at cafes are visible and easy to monitor. The activities of detective agencies are less visible and are therefore usually not noticed.