Violence and aggression against Dutch police officers remain high, police figures show, with a total of 12,500 incidents reported last year.

While the number of incidents has not significantly grown in the last few years it has increased sharply compared to the pre-pandemic figure of 10,000 and remains “unacceptably high”, police say.

“Society has become grimmer since the pandemic,” Henk van Dijk, manager of a police anti-violence programme, told broadcaster NOS. “People are more confrontational, not just towards each other but the government as well. That puts us on the frontline,” he said.

Almost half of the cases involved verbal aggression and 3,000 related to resisting arrest. Over 1,000 police officials said they had experienced violence from the public, for instance, during pro-Palestinian demonstrations and at the hands of football hooligans. Police registered 139 cases of attempted manslaughter and 46 cases of aggravated violence.

Van Dijk said the toll this takes on police officers is high. “People have no idea of the physical and mental effects,” he said.

The list includes 23 cases of doxing, or putting personal data online, which recently became a criminal offence carrying a jail term of up to two years.

Police said the New Year’s Eve riots, when police are pelted with fireworks, are “a recurring annual low”. MPs have voted for a general ban on fireworks but that will not take effect until next year.

Ambulance workers, public transport workers, and others in public service jobs also have to cope with aggression from members of the public. The number of incidents totalled 3,458, just three down on the year before but that, Van Dijk said, is most likely down to fewer people reporting incidents.