Mayors concerned about police complaints procedure

Complaints against police officers are no longer being dealt with independently since the formation of the national police force, ten mayors have told justice minister Ivo Opstelten.

Before the introduction of the national police force in 2013, mayors were responsible for their local police force and dealt with complaints about the behaviour of police agents.

 

Under the new national system, the police deal with complaints themselves and there is a complaints committee which gives non-binding advice.

 

‘I am not happy with this new way of working,’ The Hague mayor Jozias van Aartzen told the Volkskrant. ‘It depends on an internal settlement by the police which does not guarantee independence,’ he said.

Ten mayors

 

Van Aartzen has written to the justice minister on behalf of ten other mayors outlining their concerns.

 

The mayors say they no longer know what is going on between their citizens and the police. They are supposed to receive a copy of every complaint so they can give their advice but in practice this rarely happens.

 

A spokesman for the justice ministry told the Volkskrant the complaints procedure is well embedded in law and that if a police chief ignores the advice of the complaints committee, he must explain why.

Report

In 2013, the police received 10,339 complaints, according to the national police annual report. Of these, 2,209 were not dealt with by the police because they concerned fines or compensation claims which were dealt with elsewhere.

Of the remaining complaints dealt with by the police, 33% of complainants were satisfied after an initial chat with a police agent and 61% with the full complaints procedure. Just 6% wanted a formal judgement from the police chief.

 

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