At a certain point the contact between Valerie and the police will be so difficult that the police impose a contact measure. Such a measure can impose a government agency if someone always complains about the same or nasty way, for example by swearing out employees of a body or threatening with violence.
The contact measure means that from that moment on Ben and Valerie are no longer allowed to submit complaints to the police. Ben finds this strange. He himself has never filed a complaint with the police. He may be Valerie’s husband, but he does not think it is fair that he will get the same measure.
Ben contacts the National Ombudsman. Our colleague Rona* investigates the situation. She asks the police about the measure. The police say that contact with Ben and Valerie has been difficult for years and sometimes gets out of hand. This especially applies to contact with Valerie. The police spend a lot of time on the reports, declarations and complaints from Ben and Valerie. That is why they have imposed the contact measure.
After the investigation, the Ombudsman comes to a conclusion. He understands that the police have taken a measure, mainly because of Valerie’s behavior. But the measure is not appropriate for Ben. There is also no end date with the measure. The Ombudsman believes that a contact measure should always be temporary when it comes to how someone behaves.
That is why the Ombudsman asks the police to look at the measure again. The police do that. She comes to the conclusion that the measure went too far, especially for Ben. The police therefore decide to withdraw the measure.
A government agency, such as the police, may impose a contact measure. But the government must do this carefully. That means, among other things, that she looks closely at all the information that is important to achieve a good decision. The measure must also match the behavior of the citizen. And the government must clearly explain why someone gets the contact measure. At Ben that did not go well. That is why I am happy that the police have adjusted the measure.
* Not the real name