Only 350,000 of the 1.2 million crimes reported to the police in 2009 were ever investigated, Nos tv reports on Thursday, quoting police figures.

Of the 1.2 million reported crimes, 500,000 were considered to be worthy of investigation but 150,000 were never touched because of a shortage of manpower, the figures show.
Most of the claims relate to petty crime but some violent and sexual offences are also not followed up.
‘My officers have to explain to the victims that their case is not being taken up. Not because there is no evidence but because there are not enough detectives. And that is difficult for them to take in,’ police chief Stoffel Heijsman told Nos.
Petty crime
The 700,000 cases left uninvestigated are dropped because of a lack of evidence. These are mainly crimes such as bike theft, muggings and car and house break-ins.
Heijsman estimates the police need 4,000 more police officers to investigate all the crimes worth investigating. The total force is now around 54,000.
Caretaker justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told Nos investment in the police had risen from €4bn in 2004 to €4.8bn now and that crime figures show the Netherlands has become a safer place. ‘But police work will always remain a question of making choices,’ he said.