Last year, the police received a record number of reports of nuisance caused by people with confused behaviour, according to an investigation by the ANP. Oirschot is one of the municipalities with the largest increase in the number of reports of nuisance caused by confused people. There, the number of reports in 2022 was almost three times higher than a year earlier.
The ANP delved into the police figures and found that almost half of all Dutch municipalities received a record number of complaints about confused people last year. The municipality of Oirschot takes the cake, where the number of complaints has almost tripled.
The number of complaints rose sharply in these municipalities in Brabant last year:
- Oirschot: 82 complaints, increase of more than 200 percent
- Woensdrecht: 115 complaints, increase of more than 90 percent
- Oisterwijk: 155 complaints, an increase of more than 84 percent
‘Troubled times’
Whether the number of different people with confused behavior has also increased is not certain. It may also happen that multiple reports have been made about one confused person.
The exact cause of the increase is still under investigation, according to police. According to a spokesperson, “troubled times, shortages in mental health care and loneliness” are possible factors. The police also notice that confused behavior is often due to financial problems.
Brabant also has a number of notable fallers, such as Alphen-Chaam. There, the number of reports fell by 50 percent. In Best, a neighboring municipality of Oirschot, the number of nuisance reports fell by almost 20 percent.
View the exact figures of the number of reports of nuisance by confused people in your municipality here.