The number of violent robberies in the Netherlands fell by 12% last year to 2,272, the AD reports on Thursday, quoting police figures.

At the same time the number of arrests rose by 25% to 1,211, boosting the detection rate from 24% to 30%, the paper said.
The improvement in performance shows measures taken two years ago to cut armed robberies are paying off, the paper said. Since then, surveillance in shopping areas has been stepped up and special teams of detectives have been put together to focus on this sort of crime.