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A sign hanging in front of a Dutch police post
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Thursday, 28 August 2014 - 10:20
Justice Minister: 600 cops deep in debt
According to an analysis into the Dutch police force, it seems that hundreds of police officers are in debt. In answer to Parliament questions from the SP, Minister Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice) said that around 600 officers' salaries have been seized, De Volkskrant reports.
Motivation for the SP's questions came from a broadcast from Reporter Radio in which it was revealed that 200 police officers from the three biggest police forces are in financial problems.
These individuals form a risk for police forces, as they may be privy to sensitive information, yet susceptible to blackmail. De Volkskrant writes that in the extreme cases, an officer with structural debts could be fired.
According to the report, police officers are sometimes hesitant to talk about their debt problems because of the fear that they will be fired. The Minister says that there are plenty of signals of problematic debt that could be picked up on rather easily such as "a request for an advance or wanting to work more overtime."
Minister Opstelten is surprised, yet disappointed at the information that officers have "problematic" debts. Opstelten believes that officers are "suitably" paid, and that "police workers generally have an income that should not result in their being in debt." Minister Opstelten says that dismissal is the worst case scenario, and that police departments have a good system in place to find solutions.